Distance
by Septemberwriting
Summary: Thanks to Commander Shaw, Bravo team is split up. He wanted it to be permanent, but that was one small victory for Jason and the guys, the break-up would only be temporary. After some time apart they'd be able to come back together, but the distance has ramifications—especially for Sonny and Davis who thought they had every relationship scenario covered.
1. Chapter 1

It wasn't like Davis wasn't busy. She still had her entire room to pack, an Uber to reserve and a flight to catch, but it didn't stop her from looking at her phone every few seconds. He said he'd text the minute the C-130 landed and she was waiting for that second to arrive. These last twelve weeks have felt like twelve hundred.

Finally.

She feels her phone vibrate in her pocket and quickly opens the text, smiling almost instantly.

"Touchdown. Where concrete exists and all the dirt is in the ground."

"Every. Single. Time. You say the same thing LOL"

"Should we act like prison and I ask you what you're wearing?"

"Would you stop! We could still get in trouble."

"No we can't."

"Ok we can't, but still. Be careful. Clay told me about Commander Shaw. That guy's got some serious influence, I don't want to see you guys in more trouble with him."

"Screw Shaw. He's just lucky I didn't barf on his uniform."

"I heard about that too. How could you do that?" She continues to smile and stops packing, taking a seat on the bed. She missed Sonny. A lot.

After nearly ten years of friendship, she knew him pretty damn well. There weren't exactly dictionary words to describe him, but that's what made Sonny, Sonny. Her Sonny. People who didn't know him cast all kinds assumptions about the kind of person, man and Navy Seal he was and because of their assumptions, they always assumed it would set him off and make him "fly off the handle." IF they knew Sonny, they would know, to put it frankly: he never gave a fuck. When it came to strangers, cake eaters, civilians and everyone in between, Davis learned early on in their friendship that he didn't care what people who didn't know him had to say about him.

She was well aware of his rough exterior and black and white view he had when it came time to get to work and make insanely hard decisions on a mission, but it never scared her. It took her longer to uncover, but the only reason she wasn't scared was because she knew somewhere underneath he wasn't always Navy Seal, Petty Officer, Bravo Three Sonny Quinn. When the guys got back after that dreadful mission off the coast of North Korea, she got even more details and after taking her time to read through the AAR's, she realized the rest of Bravo got a glimpse of Sonny's vulnerable side too. Every so often he says or does something that shows the guys he's not the emotionless asshole he likes to portray. Being consistently open and emotionally expressive with her though, she feels a certain kind of way…maybe special is the word, knowing Sonny's only that way with her.

"That drink was pure death. Trust me."

"I guess it would have to be. You could always handle your liquor."

"Yeah, there's something else I'm dying to get a handle on."

"Would you stop! …at least until we're in private."

"Not even gonna apologize. It's been forever. You got the spare key right?"

"Yeah."

"Use it. I shouldn't be too much longer, just gotta put my stuff in my cage and get debriefed."

"Sounds good, the flight's less than an hour. We should getting back around the same time."

"Finally. See you soon Davis."

"See you soon Sonny."

Saying goodbye to everyone at OCS was harder than Davis expected it to be, but she was more than ready to get back close to base, close to the guys and close to Sonny. She'd made some great friends, gotten more confidence, strength and smarts thanks to her training and would soon find out if she got her promotion to Officer. Normally, she'd be obsessing over her missteps, better decisions she could've made and if she even made the cut, but Sonny's go-with-the-flow mentality was rubbing off on her.

"Hey Davis, you ready to get outta here?" She turns to see Jones in the doorway, bag slung across her chest, dangling by her side and a backpack on.

"Definitely. You worried about passing?"

"Absolutely. Aren't you?"

"Not really, I did my best and there's nothing we can do about it now." She slings her bags over shoulders and they both walk out together.

"True. I got an Uber to take me to the airport, wanna share?"

"Sure, thanks."

"Yeah, no problem. You going home to anyone special?" Before she can answer, her phone rings.

"Sorry, one second." She takes a quick pause and watches Jones walk ahead, giving her some space, "hey Clay, what's up? How're the legs?"

"Davis, something's wrong. Something happened."

"What's wrong?"

"Shaw. Shaw did something. I think he split up the guys. A friend of mine in Romeo, Brian, we were in green team together, just text me asking if Sonny Quinn is really the badass everyone says he is and that he can't wait to operate with him. Last time we talked, Brian said he was getting deployed to Afghanistan at the end of the month."

It was gonna be the end of the month in a week.

That's why she was excited to be heading back home. To be home. And to be close to Sonny. That dreaded feeling started to rise in her chest.

"What? When did he text you?"

"Like ten minutes ago. I've been trying to call the guys, Blackburn, Mandy, but no one's answering. Hell, I'm about to call Harrington. I don't know what's going on. You hear anything?"

"Nothing and I'm about to board my flight so my phone's gonna be limited. Listen to me Clay, the second you hear something call me, text me and leave me a voicemail. I'll get them the second I land."

"I will and do the same. If you hear anything, call me please."

"I will."

Before boarding, she tries one more time to call Sonny. If Bravo really was getting split up she wanted to know what was happening. Of course she was concerned for Jason, Ray, Clay, Trent and Brock, but Sonny was at the top of that list. Was he getting deployed to Afghanistan for the tenth time? How long would Romeo be deployed for? It was barely five minutes ago she and Sonny were texting, excited to be minutes, no longer weeks away from seeing each other and now it looked like that was in jeopardy. Now they may be back at weeks or worse, months, from seeing each other again.

Call it childish, immature or silly, but she couldn't imagine being without him again. Everyone in their line of work learned early on that everything gets amplified. Relationships, children, living, even dying all get magnified. No deployment no matter how Gucci and no mission no matter how quick and dirty wasn't a guarantee you'd return home safe. This was Navy life and she wouldn't trade it for anything, but she could still be worried. Whether it was happening for the first or fifth time, the fear never subsided.

There's the big stuff like staying alive and accomplishing the mission to agonize over and then there's the little stuff and Davis had plenty of that to miss. Sonny's barbecue, his claims of how spectacular the Quinn family "dynasty" is, his smokey scent that never leaves him, his corny jokes, his Texas drawl that always put her in the mood, broad chest and shoulders she never minded losing herself under, strength he had to pick her up (and not put her down for a few hours), the way her legs hugged his hips like they were missing puzzles pieces, his hidden talents and smarts, intuition knowing when they should take their time and when they could get crazy no bedroom or moonlight required, his genuine shock when she surprised him wanting the opposite and always caring enough to immediately oblige, his almost super-human endurance, the line they skated between pain and pleasure thanks to his size… and other things she couldn't think about in public. She waited until the last possible second before getting on the plane, clutching his house key, listening to his voicemail practically on repeat. His voice, even recorded, was still enough to give her butterflies.

"Hey it's me again. I'm boarding now, but please leave me a voicemail or text. I'll be over ASAP. I… I'll see you soon."

As soon as the plane landed, Davis collected her luggage and practically sprinted to Sonny's place. There were no messages from Clay, Sonny or any of the guys.

"Sonny? Sonny are you here?" They nearly crash into each other when she swings the door open, her bags nearly knocking him off balance, his bags falling out of his hands, landing at his feet. Even with her luggage still attached to her person, she feels his hands snake around her waist wrapping her in a tight hug and his head bury in the crook of her neck.

"How was OCS?" Despite the circumstances, he can still make her happy and grin from ear-to-ear.

"Forget that. What's going on? Are you spinning up?"

"Commander Shaw applauded Bravo for completing our last mission…but he thinks we need some "time apart" to remember what it means to be a Navy Seal." The way his voice hesitates, trailing off before rising again, she knows he's not mad, it's something else. She can't put her finger on it, but he sounds a certain way. It's not excitement, anger or hurt, but there's something he's not expressing. She takes his hand and leads him to the couch, neither of them minding the lack of personal space. The reunion she had envisioned was a lot happier, a lot more entertaining and a hell of a lot sexier than this.

"Where you going and with who?"

"Afghanistan as Romeo Two."

"Romeo's got some good guys. For how long?"

"Best case, three months."

"So another twelve weeks. Okay, we can do that. Worst case?"

"Five months….maybe six." Trying her best to maintain her composure, she tries not to cry and make him feel any worse. Six months? It's still up in the air, and may not happen, but still, the potential is there. Half a year without Sonny, his hats, his sayings and his body in close proximity to her…it seemed like forever.

"Okay, how much time do we have?"

"Not enough."

"What do you mean? You're leaving now? Like right this second?"

"Wheels up on Friday 0400." It was Sunday, 5PM.

"Jesus."

"It's alright. It was only a matter of time. I knew my tenth deployment was coming; I thought I'd be with my brothers, but Shaw's got bigger kahuna's than I gave him credit for. I guess he wants to see a more improved, professional Sonny Quinn when I return."

"Screw Shaw," she vocalizes his exact text from earlier, but expressing distaste for Shaw had to be said. She hadn't meant for it to come out so harsh, but the laugh he gives puts her back at ease. "Don't change for him, I like this Sonny Quinn just fine. Stick his ass in a damaged lock out chamber and I'd like to see him come out unscathed. Guys like that are the reason team guys think all officers and non-operators are cake eaters."

"Wanna ride back to base with me? It'll put me in a great mood to watch you giving it to Shaw."

"Ha-ha. I'm just annoyed. What he did to you—all of you—really gets to me."

"It's cool. I like watching you get this riled up. Very irresistible." She was still seething and wanted to let it loose, but when he complimented her in that way only Sonny Quinn could, it immediately melted away despite her _wanting_ to stay angry at Shaw and the situation. Watching him lean behind him to grab his drink from the corner table was all it took for her to press her palm to his chest and prevent him from sitting back up.

"You know I gotta head back to base soon right?"

"Oh I'm sorry, do you need a few hours to get it up?"

"Hell no."

The way he swings his right leg over her head in a swift motion and haphazardly drops his glass back on the table, Davis busts out in a fit of laughter. They had four full days, ten hours and twenty minutes before he had a C-130 to catch that would take him half way around the world and away from her for possibly half a year. The thought had her wanting to throw on a pair of his sweats and crawl into his bed with multiple six packs, until she stops thinking and focuses back on the moment. His lips taste sweet and smokey. His beard is full, but she can still run her hands through it. She flings his hat off and leans further into the kiss. Before Clay called her, she had planned on a crazy sexy reunion and she was almost positive he had the same thing in mind, but that was before.

Now, she wanted to take her time and pretend Sonny wasn't going anywhere in T minus four days, ten hours and fifteen minutes. She gives herself permission to go under his shirt, running a gentle hand across the gash he has around his ribcage courtesy of an insurgent. It elicits the response she was looking for, a smile from him she feels against her lips and a quick raise he does to get rid of the shirt. The injury healed years ago, but it didn't stop a giggle every time a delicate hand brushes over it. She found that out the night he showed up at her place under the cheesy claim that beer with her "sounded better." They did end up drinking beer. Drinking beer and making out. Drinking beer and making out and getting handsy. Pretty soon after that she found out why before her, Sonny had a hard time finding a woman who could keep up with him. She kept up her proclamation though. She could and she did keep up with him that night. And every night since then.

"I can't go slow if you're gonna do that." While she was getting lost in her thoughts trying to distract herself from what Commander Shaw was doing to her guys, her hands and lips were busy. Her hands weren't even visible anymore and when she looks down her lip handy work was already starting to form marks over his skin. She stops and sits upright, basically sitting on him.

"Yeah well, all plans are getting screwed today, why not add more to the list." She was agitated, worried and horny. Not a good combination.

"Hey, listen to me. Every other deployment I had nothing to come home and now I have you. Trust me, nothing's gonna stop me from coming back home."

That was the problem.

It was screwed up and a cruel twist of fate, but every time someone didn't want to come home or didn't care if they did, they almost always came home. When a service member couldn't wait to return home, had a family (immediate and extended) to reunite with, significant other they couldn't wait to kiss, kid or kids they couldn't wait to hug, friends to welcome them home and a full life still waiting for them to explore, the Universe always cut it short.

Before her and even as just as his friend, Davis saw the indifference he always had about returning home. He was always the last one to pack up, last one on the C-130 and first one at the bar. Now he had her and the knowledge she'd be waiting for him. If everything was changing, Bravo would no longer be the Bravo everyone knew it to be and Sonny was leaving for an insanely long time he had to know something before he left. She didn't care if he was unsure if he felt it too or if he couldn't say it back. She knew and she was sure of it.

"I love you."

A/N: Hey beautiful people, hope you're doing well :) I loved season two overall (#Savis was made a couple—yay!) but I'm dying for more scenes of just the two of them. If the writers won't do it, I'll just make my own LOL Let me know what you think of the new story and the season overall :)


	2. Chapter 2

"What?"

"I love you."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah seriously." She can't help releasing a little chuckle. Only Sonny Quinn would have a reaction that questions if she really means it. "It's okay if you don't…"

"No I…I…"

"It's okay, really. You don't have to say it back. I just had to let you know since you're…"

"I…I love you too."

"Seriously?" This time even Sonny had to join in the laughter at how this conversation was going. They both just admitted—out loud—how they truly felt about each other and neither could believe what the other was saying.

"Yeah, I was gonna tell you before we left for Manila. I just didn't know if…see, I didn't think you'd…"

"Sonny, stop talking."

"…and then after Stella broke up with Clay, he told me to never to fall in love while we were in Mexico and now I'm sitting here, saying it to you and…" God he was even more adorable when he rambled. By mistake, she stopped listening a while ago, but he was just too cute when his words started tripping over each other and he couldn't stop himself. "…if this is…"

"Sonny…"

"…don't know…"

"Sonny…" as much as she enjoys seeing him so flustered, before he can take another deep inhale and continue rambling she stops him with a kiss.

"Can you…"

"Can I what?"

"Can you say it again?"

"Like the way it makes you feel?"

"Yeah." He leans back cool on his elbows, his torso on full display for all to see. Now with the perfect view, she can use her trained eye and see the evidence left behind after a spin-up. He's got tan lines that begin and end perfectly where his uniform would be, faint markings on his shoulders from his parachute and slight trauma on his left side she's almost positive is from one of the bombs that brought Clay back stateside.

"I love you." She watches him fall back into the couch and close his eyes, a completely satisfied and content look on his face.

"I love you too cake eater."

"Hey!"

"Just kidding. You're my cake eater," he pauses to stretch before leaning back up, "come on."

"Where we going?"

"It's bedtime somewhere right?"

"I thought we were meeting the guys for drinks?"

"Yeah," he drags out the word, lifting her in a one easy motion, "we might be a little late."

—

Later that night, everyone gathers at the usual bar, partly in memory of Brett Swann and partly to catch up with everyone back home. Even though Davis and Sonny walked in together, they had a little routine worked out. If they walked in together, like tonight, they cooly parted ways almost immediately, hoping to convey the assumption that they simply rode together and nothing more. They didn't want to give anyone reason to suspect anything, like that less than an hour ago, there was something else she was riding…

Sonny hitching a ride with her wouldn't arouse suspicion from any of the guys. More often than not, he pretty quickly crossed over the legal limit to drive and got a ride home from someone. On her way to the bar, she begins to smile and smile wide. In a few hours, she could "offer" to take Sonny home and make sure he didn't get in trouble. She could put her arms around him of course under the guise of "helping" him, but knowing damn well Sonny could hold his liquor just fine. Maybe he'd get in on the action and pretend to be extra drunk in order to get extra close to her and they could both giggle at the shameless display of PDA. That possibility alone was putting her back in a great mood.

"There she is. Sorry we missed the ceremony, but Clay told us all about it."

"Raymond Perry, you're a sight for sore eyes. How're Naima and the kids?"

"Everyone's good. How was OCS?"

"Hell, but you know, I crushed it."

"We didn't expect anything less."

"It's good to see the guys back in one piece. You too."

"Thanks."

She looks out at the back table and watches the guys catch up. Clay and Trent re-telling and over-exaggerating the stories they told their Filipino counterparts, Jason at the bar ordering more pitchers with Brock and Sonny downing his glass, teasing Clay whenever the waitress came back around. "So lemme ask you something because if there's anyone who knows what's goes on with this team on the personal level, it's First Class Yeoman Lisa Davis." She snaps her attention back to Ray, but when she catches the ear-to-ear smile on his face, she laughs, "excuse me, Officer Lisa Davis. May I ask you, Officer Lisa Davis, a question?"

"Of course you can Senior Chief Perry. What's up?"

"What's up with Sonny?"

"What do you mean? Something happen to him over there?"

"No, no nothing like that. He was actually the stable one while we were in Guam and that's what's up. When Sonny Quinn is the stable one in Bravo you know something's up—with the rest of us and with him." She had to stifle a laugh.

"That's true."

"Right? I'm sure you know what was going on with me and Jason and how what happened to Clay affected all of us. Sonny was still calm and damn near level-headed through it all. Something's up with him. I'm not saying it's something bad, but he's different. You know why?"

She takes a moment to glance in his direction again, watching Clay tease Sonny right back when a different waitress comes to the table, placing a tray of hot wings down. It's driving her insane she can't hear what's being said, but she resists the urge to go over and kill the waitress when she sees her play along with the guys and her hands intrude on what Davis now considers hers. The waitress' hands remove his hat and run a hand through his hair. The hands take a full pitcher of beer passing by and drop it on the table, her hands disappearing from view for just a few seconds, but it's a few seconds too long for Davis. That little disappearing act followed by the "whoa" she could clearly hear from Sonny over all the noise followed by the roars from the guys was enough. He was hers and that waitress better learn her place.

"I don't know, but it won't take me long to figure out."

"Well when you do figure it out, make sure you tell us. We pressed him, but he didn't budge."

"Can't be anything serious. Judging by what I just saw over there, he seems to be the old Sonny Quinn to me."

"Indeed. The guy's definitely got a way about him. Never mind he's a hot mess, the ladies love him. Must be the Texas drawl," she gives a little laugh with Ray before he continues, "come on, let's get back to the table." It is the Texas drawl. It's the drawl, the beard, his muscles, his brute strength and unapologetic nature, but there's more and she knows she not the only woman to see it. It's his sensitivity, fierce loyalty, desire to be more emotional even though they ended up as endlessly adorable rambles and willingness to sacrifice himself for those he cared about.

"Looks like Sonny forgot all about that girl he was hung up on the entire time we were Gucci." Ray declared, taking a seat next to Jason, she next to Sonny and Trent on her other side.

"Oooh really? Sonny Quinn was hung up on some girl? Who was she?" Damn right she was still boiling from what that waitress did, but she was gonna have a little fun with him while he was still stateside.

"Good luck getting an answer. He's been dodging that question for weeks now," Brock answered before Sonny could.

"What's with the obsession into my life?"

"Because you're not the same and we wanna know why." Jason spoke next.

"Yeah and you were never so secretive before. What's so different about this chick compared to all the others?" Trent added on.

"Nothing."

"Were you not the first one to pack up and be ready to go? Last year in J-Bad I had to do everything short of light firecrackers next to your ears to get you out of bed and onto the plane." Jason explained further.

"Yeah, I wanted to get home and as far away from Shaw as possible. And of course to see Clay."

"I'm touched Sonny. Really. Come here," Clay stretches his arms out, ready to have a full-on embrace with Sonny who tries and fails to dodge Bravo six, slipping into his hug that looks more like a headlock. "I love you man, really I do." Sonny doesn't acknowledge his love profession and Clay doesn't let him go. "And?"

"What?"

"Admit it. Admit you love me too."

"Never."

"Fine, tell us the name of the girl who took stripper-loving Sonny Quinn from us and replaced him with boring, stable Sonny Quinn." The laughs extend around the table and even Lisa can't help it. She loved Sonny and the guys. Obviously, two different kinds of love, but it was still love nonetheless.

"Screw you."

"Is that what your new girlfriend did to you after we landed?" Sonny doesn't answer. "Come on, what's her name?"

"Davis…" Clay let's him go and the table erupts, even she spits out some of her beer at the shock of hearing her name.

"Be serious Sonny." Trent.

"She's too good for you." Jason.

"Yeah right." Brock.

"You'd never take the kind of risk." Ray.

"Sure Sonny, sure. Nice distraction tactic to get outta me kicking your ass." Clay.

"Jokes on you idiots, I knew it'd work and you'd let me go. Sorry Davis."

"No apology necessary. Nice to see you all hold me in such high regard. I feel honored."

"You should be. We know you're an officer now and everything, but you're still Lisa Davis. You're better than all of us degenerates," Jason compliments so eloquently she has to pause and look down.

"I'll drink to that. Cheers." Sonny raises his glass, followed by the rest of the guys and Davis who clank glasses and take swings. "Oh and Clay," he quickly picks up a half full pitcher, flips off Clay's hat and pours it over his head, "I love you too." The table and entire bar erupt in resounding laughter and "ooh's," but it doesn't take long for Clay and Sonny to hug it out. "Alright, I guess the next round is on me. Be right back." After Sonny leaves with the empty pitchers, Clay is the first to speak up.

"I should've known he'd use some trick on me. I never thought he'd use your name Davis."

"Ah, no biggie. Sonny's got his moments of brilliance."

"Would you ever though?" Brock broaches the topic before getting slapped by Ray.

"Hey, come on now. Don't go there."

"It's ok Ray. What do you wanna know Brock? Want me to do the fuck, marry and throw off a bridge game with you guys?" Brock heeds Ray's warning and doesn't answer, just shrugs his shoulders. "So what did Shaw do to the rest of you?"

"Screw Kill Joy." They all same the sentiment at nearly the same time, the only variation being the harshest curse word they say at that moment.

"He didn't really bring the hammer down on us, it was directed more to Sonny."

"Are you kidding?" If it was possible to be more angry, Davis was now there.

"The rest of us are pretty much grounded. I'm training new medics, Ray's back training green teams and Brock's with the K-9 units." Trent drinks straight from the pitcher that has one last gulp left at the bottom.

"Right now the only people officially Bravo are Jace and Clay." Ray puts a hand on Jason's shoulder and rocks him back and forth. She watches Jason smile, but the look in his eyes tells her everything. If it wouldn't get him court-martialed, he'd kill Shaw and she's pretty sure the rest of Bravo would help.

"So what happens if you guys have to spin up?"

"We'll still spin up as Bravo."

"So what's the point of all of this?"

"We think he's trying to limit the time we spend together. Like all of this is really gonna make a difference." Clay doesn't hide his agitation either, his foot shaking up and down on the stool so high, his knee could flip the table like a pancake.

"Sorry guys."

"Don't worry about it. This is gonna blow up in Shaw's face when this is all over." Something in Jason's voice told her he meant it.

The next thing Davis hears is a bottle shattering and people screaming.

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews/follows and favorites, they mean the world to me. Let me know what you think of this chapter/cliffhanger and don't worry, you won't have to wait long for part two :)


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for letting me know about the format, hope this one is much easier to read!

Sonny. She couldn't see anything, but she knew. Whether he was the aggressor or victim she didn't know, but she just knew he was involved. Their table was already clear, the guys reaching the fight even before people closer to it realized what was going on. Even Clay didn't freeze, especially given the last time he was in a bar, he nearly lost his ability to walk…and operate. As she got closer, she could hear a little clearer over the screams that were coming mostly from bar females who liked to hang around Navy Seals, but never knew they were capable of this level of violence—and more.

"Touch my girlfriend again and I'll kill you with another bottle."

"Fuck that. I'll kill you with my bare hands mother…" The rest of Bravo begins screaming cutting off the rest of Sonny's threat. She can't tell if they're screaming at Sonny to back off or at the guy, threatening him just as deadly.

Through the limbs and bodies she sees blood on the floor and Sonny now with the clear upper hand. Whoever this guy is, he must've not be thinking. First of all, picking a fight in a known military bar is practically suicidal. Even if someone didn't have their team or branch with them, military's military and they stick together. Second, Sonny _did_ have his team and Bravo had his back in a split second. Third, he should've known better than to think a Navy Seal would crumble after one hit to the head.

From her vantage point, she has a clear view of everything and while Sonny is on top of the guy, landing what she guesses are ninety percent of his punches, what happens next is like slow motion. The guy grabs the top of the shattered bottle that's still intact and heads straight for Sonny's right kidney. If it only connects, he won't be able to deploy to Afghanistan, but this isn't the way she wanted him to stay back. Just as she calls Clay's name, whose the closest to prevent Sonny from getting impaled, he and Ray pry Sonny off while Brock and Trent hold the guy down, the top of the bottle connecting instead with Brock's forearm.

"Stay down." Jason demanded in _that _tone that told everyone the fight was over. He places his foot over the guy's wrist and presses down. The guy lets out a blood curling scream, releasing the weaponized bottle top, trying to free his hand. There were shards of glass everywhere and bits were getting under his skin. "Bravo let's go. Now." Call them whipped, but Jason was Bravo's leader and the rest of the team had the utmost respect for him.

Brock and Trent get off the guy, carelessly stepping over him and Ray and Clay keep hands on Sonny, escorting him from the scene. On the way out Davis notices one side of his blue t-shirt is now deep red. Outside, she's the first to speak up.

"Trent where to?"

"Base. They'll have the supplies I need to patch them up," she watches him take a deep inhale and quickly scan everyone else to make sure they have no glaring injuries. "Up Brock, keep your arm up, you don't need to loose anymore blood."

"Here, use this." Ray takes the rest of Sonny's weight whose uncharacteristically quiet, as Clay takes off his shirt and offers it as a temporary sling.

"People are gonna ask questions." Brock breathes a sigh of relief as the t-shirt sling starts to work and make his arm feel a little better.

"No they won't." Jason was in full protective mode. Shaw already temporarily split up his team, he was going to be damned if someone else tried to screw with his guys. His team.

"Ray put him in my car. I'll get him to base."

"Lisa, he took a nasty gash to the head, make sure he doesn't fall asleep before we get there," Trent calls, already jogging to his bike.

They all get to their cars and drive one behind the other back to base. A few minutes into the drive and now with the adrenaline is dissipating, she finds her voice again.

"You feeling alright?"

"Yeah."

"Come on Sonny, keep talking. I know you heard Trent, you can't fall asleep."

"I'm alright. Jerk-off couldn't even fight."

"Was this over the hot wings girl?"

"Yeah, the one you wanted to kill."

"How…"

"I saw you watching us. I may be a degenerate, but I'm an observant degenerate." He gives off a drunk laugh and falls quiet again.

"Yeah, well she was all over you. She's lucky the guys were around and I couldn't rearrange her face."

"We make some pair huh?"

"A kick-ass pair." She laces their fingers together and kisses the back of his hand. Right now, he looks exactly like the hot mess Ray was describing earlier, but she wouldn't have him any other way. When they get to base, Jason walks ahead, his posture and facial expressions daring anyone to ask him anything, related to the state of his team or otherwise. Ray and Clay assume their positions flanking Sonny's side with Trent and Brock not far behind.

"Come on Sonny, lemme take a look at you." As Trent makes his way over, she helps him up onto one of the gurney's in the corner of the med room and helps him deftly remove his shirt to reveal the tiny shards of glass that have pierced the skin along his side and back. Just before Trent reaches them, she feels Sonny give her hand a squeeze. He must've caught the shocked looked on her face at his appearance now versus just a few hours ago. In his own way, he was trying to tell her it looks worse than it really is.

"Patch Brock up first."

"No! You crazy? You could have glass in your head."

"I saw you take the shard for me. I'm alright—really, it's not the first time a bottle's hit me. I can hang on, your arm isn't going to take that long. Trent's gonna wanna pamper me for the rest of the night anyway."

"How is it you make more sense after a brutal bar fight?" Clay ponders out loud, giving everyone a reason to laugh a little. Sure enough Sonny was right. It took Trent less than ten minutes to stop the bleeding, check for glass and to patch Brock up.

When Trent turned his attention to Sonny, she didn't move from his side. If the guys knew they were dating, they'd probably give them some privacy. She could plant her lips on his temple and let them linger while Trent stitched the back side of his head. She could hold his hand and let him squeeze it for seconds at a time when Trent touched on a particularly sensitive area. They could trust Trent wasn't listening and talk like it was just the two of them having pillow talk. She could admit to him that bar fight had her scared to death when she saw that guy reaching for the broken bottle top and he could assure her in that way only Sonny could. He wouldn't use his words, but make eye contact and flash that smile that made her feel lucky, beautiful and like everything would be okay. Then he'd do his other trademark move and say just above a whisper: "c'mere" in that heavy, but sexy-as-hell drawl. They could both forget Trent was in the room and that Sonny was still peppered throughout with blood and make out because why not? They couldn't stay away from each other and it was still on the front of her mind that he was getting spun up in a few days. They had to make the most of the time they had and so what if he looked like a disaster? She had to wonder what it said about her that she still found him attractive even in his current condition. The thought gave her a good laugh.

"Lisa? Lisa? Hey Davis!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm here."

"You okay?" Trent asked. She can see his eyes already scrutinizing her up and down, looking for signs of obvious and invisible trauma.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What's up?"

"Can you hand me the dish behind you? I wanna make sure nothing ends up on the floor."

"Sure."

Everyone turns when they hear Ray whistle from the door.

"Blackburn and Commander Kill Joy at twelve o'clock J." Navy Seals don't get scared, but she can see all the guys get tense. Davis watches and hears Sonny spring up off the gurney and curse under his breath. Trent stops prying glass from his side and looks towards the door.

"Should we ditch the lights?" Clay's already moving to the wall, ready to hit the switch.

"No leave 'em. Let them come in. I'm in the mood for a fight."

"Come on J, let's be smart about this."

"Sonny isn't finished getting patched up. Keep working Trent."

"Coming into view in ten." Ray announces.

This is the last thing they needed. Nine.

But it wasn't exactly Sonny's fault. Eight.

That d-bag started the fight. Seven.

They were hanging out, remembering Brett Swann. Six.

He and Clay were just joking. Like they all do. Like brothers who love each other. Five.

Bravo had captured their target. Mission Complete. Four.

Were they not allowed to celebrate a job well done? Three.

Shaw already sent his decision to split the team before they captured the HVT. Two.

What was he gonna do when he walked through the door? And saw Bravo in this condition? One.

"What the…" at least Blackburn was the first to speak. A split second later Commander Kill Joy entered. "Attention." Blackburn ordered his team. Davis wanted nothing more than to throw her arms around Sonny's waist and help him stand to attention, but she knew she couldn't. She could see him struggling, the deep inhales he keeps taking and extra big one he took in order to stand up straight. She stood next to him on high alert, ready to catch him if his balance failed.

"Of course it's Bravo. Blackburn, care to tell me what the hell is going on here?"

"Unsure myself Sir. Just walked in."

"Very well. Master Chief, care to explain why two of your team members require medical attention at one thirty in the morning and why one is bleeding on the floor looking like a sorry excuse for a United States Navy Seal?" This guy. He did not just call Sonny a sorry excuse for a Navy Seal. At the moment, Davis wanted to hit him over the head with a bottle and grind a few shards into his side and tell him to stand at attention.

"We were ambushed at the bar Sir. Fortunately Bravo is used to getting attacked by enemies foreign and domestic. The situation was handled."

"Ambushed. At a hometown bar?"

"Yes sir. It is possible to be attacked at home, sometimes even by those closest to us." Point to Jason Hayes and the rest of Bravo. It was obvious Jason wasn't just talking about that d-bag in the bar, but to Shaw directly. Yes, he didn't get into a physical fight with Bravo team, but the minute he brought up splitting them up and critiquing their appearances/handling of situations he did become an enemy. Davis tries to keep a straight face, but when she sees Clay snickering like a schoolgirl behind Commander Kill Joy, she forces herself to look forward and think about close calls on previous missions to stop from snickering too.

"Green zone is a relative term after all." Uh-oh Sonny is the next thought in her head. What he just said is true, but damn. It's not something said out-loud, even if everyone knows it. She sees Ray momentarily close his eyes and look down before picking his head back up and keeping attention.

"Excuse me?" Shaw takes slow steps towards Sonny, stopping in front of his face. "Care to repeat that Petty Officer Quinn?"

"Green zone is a relative term. If green zones were fool proof I wouldn't be bleeding on the floor. Sir."

"Petty Officer I know you are not comparing your trashy bar fight to the brave men and women who've lost their lives protecting the United States and her interests in hostile countries around the world."

"The execution of my duties will be swift and violent when required. Sir." Point to Sonny.

After staring at Sonny and making eye contact with the rest of Bravo, Shaw leaves without saying another word. Blackburn is on his heels, but not before giving his team a wink and smile. Bravo may have underestimated Shaw when he first came into their lives, but that would never happen again. Now, they were always ready for him. Jason nailed him when he said Bravo was used to getting attacked and Sonny finished him off, reciting a small part of the Creed. Kill Joy had no other choice, but to stay quiet and walk out of the room. Jason waits a few moments before walking to the door himself.

"Nice job Sonny. Ray," he tilts his head towards the door and Ray follows.

"Yeah, nice going." Brock double checks the hallway to make sure its clear of Blackburn and Kill Joy and closes it after Jason and Ray leave.

"Don't sound so surprised. I have my moments. Alright Trent, not to rush you, but you have five minutes to finish up here and then I'm walking."

"In a rush to go see someone special?" Clay gives a side smile.

"You want another pitcher over your head?" Trent and Brock burst out laughing, but Clay turns straight-faced. "Thought not. Now get outta here. You reek and need a good shower."

"Look whose talking." A small scream is heard from Clay as the metal tray Sonny flung his way, catches him on the back of his legs as he closed the door behind him.

"All done, go home and get some rest. Try not to get your head wet for twenty four hours."

"You're a lifesaver Trent."

"Let's go Rocky, I'll make sure he gets home safe. See you guys later." Now that she can put her hands around his waist again, Davis tries to hide the giant smile she feels herself doing. She stiffens a little bit when Sonny takes the hand he has over her shoulder and laces his fingers through hers. She tries to look him in the eyes, but he keeps his shoulders high and head straight ahead almost like he's on high alert.

"Hey?" They both know their only one-hundred percent safe when its just the two of them in each others apartments so she keeps her voice to a whisper. "It's okay, you can relax. You're dating an Officer remember?"

"I can never forget." She sees his shoulders relax, his breathing even out and a little more of his weight against her shoulders. His adrenaline has worn off and now the discomfort must be setting in. "Let's hang out tomorrow."

"Sure, we can go out, but not to the bar…"

"No, just us," he pauses briefly as she helps him into the car and gets in herself. "I mean, not that I wouldn't take you out. It's not like you're the kind of girl who I can't…or would be ashamed to…it's just with the guys and Blackburn and Kill Joy…this place gets small fast…we shouldn't…something could…" This is the Sonny only she gets to see and she loves that fact. He never loses control of his words and emotions around anyone else, but her.

"Sonny. Breathe."

"Sorry. I just…"

"Shh," she leans over the center console and hold his face in the palm of her hands. "You wanna hang out tomorrow, just me and you?" He nods his head as she continues to hold his face, making her break out into a small laugh. "Good. I hope you bought more strawberries…" When he leans in with a clear agenda on his mind, she backs away teasing him. "We can't. We're on base." After stretching, adjusting his cap and racking back the passenger seat as far as it'll go, he says the one word he knows she can't resist, privacy be damned.

"C'mere."

A/N: Thanks (as always) for the kind words and support. Hope you didn't feel like you were waiting forever for this second part lol Let me know what you think :)


	4. Chapter 4

Doing things with Sonny on base was nothing new to Davis. They did things all the time like work out the logistics of a mission, organize gear and lift weights or run a lap or two. Doing things _to _Sonny and vice versa was something she'd never done before, but she liked it. Before Sonny she was too professional and too serious about her job to even consider hooking up—with anyone—on base or in its vicinity. Before Sonny, she never realized how limber she could be in such a small space and how agile someone Sonny's size could be either. Before Sonny, there were a lot of things she never thought she'd do, but Sonny was bringing out a whole different side of her.

The danger of getting caught was no longer applicable since she was an Officer and no longer associated with Bravo Team, but they could still get caught by the guys. She couldn't get a read on how the guys would react if they found out _she_ was the girl causing this drastic change in Sonny's personality. There was that moment at the bar when he said her name, but the guys played it off. The resounding feeling was that she was too good for him, but of course she didn't believe it. Sonny's problems may be common knowledge, but she had her own issues too. Hell, all of Bravo had their own issues. With the kind of duties they're asked to perform, any normal person would have scars and trauma to show for it. Kill Joy didn't realize that while Bravo had problems, keeping them a team and keeping them together, that's what keeps them from crumbling.

As she drives, she shifts her position so her right arm rests on the center console. That's when Sonny, who she thought was sleeping, laces his fingers through hers and kisses the back of her hand. This is Sonny. A few staples in his head from someone misjudging him, small cuts that run nearly the length of his torso from him defending himself and still planting tender kisses on her hand so she knows he's watching her. Keeping her company as she drives home. That he loves her.

"Let's roll Petty Officer, you're home."

"We could just sleep here. It's almost three o'clock in the morning, we'll be up in a few hours anyway."

"No way, we've done enough in this car already."

"Yeah…you may want to get it detailed now."

"Shut up, now its definitely time to get out."

She helps him into his apartment and changed out the sweaty, bloody, beer scented clothes. After she locks up and settles in for the night, she makes a cup of coffee and stares out of the kitchen window. The amount of time that's past is unknown, but she feels Sonny stand flush behind her and place a kiss on the top of her head.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You need to sleep."

"So do you. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just thinking."

"About?"

"Brett. Kill Joy. Your spin up, whose handling ISR. Being an Officer. Everything. My mind's just racing. It's fine. I don't know how some guys do it."

"Well you got guys like Kairos who aren't human, the Brock's who are real romantics and the Ray's who have God. Then you have me, Trent and J who have alcohol." She has to laugh at the accuracy and honesty of what he just said.

"Are we really gonna keep doing this after you spin up?"

"Why wouldn't we?"

"Come on Sonny," she spins around and stays with her back pressed against the sink, now facing Sonny. "I know what its like and what happens with time and distance."

"You think I would do that to you?"

"No, but no one ever means too. Jason and Alanna were never officially divorced, but I know about Amy. I know about Ray and Christine. I know you."

"You know me? What does that mean?"

"Not like that. I mean deploying is hard. You're an exceptional Seal, you always do what's necessary—no matter how ugly it is. You're not a machine though. You're gonna need someone to talk to. Someone to confide in. Someone to take comfort in. I'm not gonna be there."

"So what're you saying?"

"I don't know. Just promise me you'll take care of yourself over there."

"You know I will."

She doesn't resist when Sonny takes the rest of her coffee and pours it down the drain and then leads her to bed. She wasn't lying when she said she doesn't know what's she's trying to say, she just knows how things are. For the first time, she was having regrets about OCS and graduating. Before Sonny, she was over-the-moon about her acceptance, excited to go and ready for a change, now everything was changing and she wanted nothing more for things to go back the way they were.

Now Bravo was temporarily splintered, she was an Officer and she and Sonny were more serious. That was the one and only bright spot. This deployment was their first test and she didn't want to turn into Stella. Breaking up with someone five seconds before they're about to deploy is ice cold. For a long time, she held the quiet belief that Stella was a cold-hearted bitch, but never expressed it out loud. Her hatred has since lessened to a simple mild dislike and its partly due to hind sight and now being able to sympathize with her reasoning.

Davis isn't worried about Sonny dying (no more than usual), she was more worried about how he always pushed him and had trouble coming back. Sometimes—ninety-nine percent of the time—Spun up Sonny was black and white, high on adrenaline, drunk on America and unpredictable when cake eaters got in the way of something or someone he and his brothers wanted to capture. Now he was going to Afghanistan without her—or his brothers. Jason wouldn't be there to talk him down, Ray wouldn't be there to remind him his job (and life) were more important than some impulsive decision he wanted to follow through with, Clay wouldn't be there so he wouldn't drink away his problems alone and she wouldn't be there to remind him he didn't have to always be Show-No-Fear Bravo Three one hundred percent of the time.

When he came back in three or six months—the idea of six months still makes her heart stop—what kind of condition would he be in? What kinds of missions, raids and rescues will they have to contend with? If she wasn't an Officer, she could find out whose handling Romeo's ISR and request to spin up as Romeo's eyes using some BS excuse.

As the sun begins to rise, she still can't sleep, but puts her head against Sonny's chest, over his trident and over his heart. He hasn't even left yet and the distance is already causing her sleepless nights.

"Sonny, wake up! We gotta talk."

"Shit." She hears him whisper and slowly sit up, aware she's using his chest as a pillow. He rests on his elbows and rubs the sleep from his eyes. "Stay in the living room Ray!"

"Of course I'm staying in the living room. You think I'm walking into your bedroom after the last time?" All three of them giggle and Davis holds onto his waist a little tighter.

"What happened last time?"

"Nothing. Lemme go see what he wants. I'll be right back." She holds on tighter and kisses his chest, leaning into him, driving him completely nuts. Ray had him a little frazzled, why not add more fun?

"Well well good morning Petty Officer. Good morning indeed," she looks down and back up at Sonny.

"Jesus Christ…" he lets out before she covers his mouth with her hand.

"Hey Quinn! You coming sometime this century? I gotta talk to you! It's important!" Ten minutes later, Sonny finally left the bedroom.

"Damn. Good morning Sleeping Beauty. What the hell happened to you?" Davis watches him leave his room with just a pair of sweats and nothing else on.

"Nothing. What's so damn important?"

"Wait a minute," Davis can't see, but it suddenly dawns on her that she may have stuff lying around outside. She wraps his bedsheet around herself and looks around his room. At least the big stuff, the stuff that can't be explained like her wallet and keys are in his bedroom on his bedside table. She tries to picture Sonny's living room and if she's got clothes or other items strewn about Ray may recognize. "You're not sleeping on your couch and there's no bottle of Jack on the table."

"So?"

"Until this mystery woman, every time someone busts into your place, you're passed out on the couch or the floor and there's a bottle of Jack or a case of beer on the table."

"Shut up Ray."

"Oh hell, I interrupted something didn't I? She's here isn't she?!" Davis obviously can't see his expression or hear if he's saying anything in return just Ray. All she can catch is a few words from Sonny. "She come to look after you after the fight? Well at least she sounds caring. J wanted me to come talk to you about Clay, but first I was gonna ask if you were okay. I guess someone's taking care of that huh?"

"Again shut up. What about Clay?"

"Stella's back. They hooked up now Clay's a mess. He showed up at the bosses house early this morning, like four o'clock and passed out on the couch. We need you talk to him."

"Sure. He still there now?"

"Yeah, J doesn't want him going home and getting into it with Stella. When he goes back, one of us should go with him too. These on again off again rollercoasters have a tendency to get ugly."

"Just call me Dr. Phil Raymond Perry."

"Clay told me what you told him when we were Gucci."

"What? Am I that irresistible? That fascinating? That none of you can help, but talk about the greatest that is Sonny Quinn?"

"Guess again playboy. It's only because Sonny Quinn has a _love _life beyond strippers and strip clubs." Sonny says something, but she can't hear. His voice starts to lower and become nearly inaudible. "Hey, if your really like this girl, you guys will find a way to make it work. Her big dreams and your job won't be a problem."

"…different…Naima…"

"Everyone's different. You saw me this last deployment, I was a disaster, but I came home to the love of my life. She was worried about me and that was my fault, but I fessed up, apologized and will work hard at making sure I never put her in that situation again."

"…know me…"

"You're a good man and you better start believing it. Honestly, brother to brother, even though you don't want to tell me her name or anything about her, I'm happy for you, this is good for you. She's a saint for handling someone like…" Ray laughs through the rest of what he's saying.

"…you're the biggest…"

"Love you too. And who knows, give it some time and you'll fill your cage and future hooches with pictures of your own family. Now I see what was up with those questions and that look on your face when I packed that picture of Naima and the kids. I'll tell you this one thing brother, there's nothing like seeing someone and realizing she's the one you see yourself marrying and having kids with…"

What. The. Hell.

What did Sonny ask Ray when they were Gucci? What did he tell Clay? Do they already have suspicions it might be her? She thought they were keeping all of this a secret, who else has he been talking too and who knows what? She and Sonny weren't just having fun, they had that exclusive talk before he went Gucci and before she went off to OCS, but getting married and having a family was a whole different conversation. Did he already have _that_ kind of talk with Ray? Doing the job they do and balancing a family? Was he just asking to ask? Was it because of her, he was thinking about taking the ultimate plunge? Was he thinking about it before her and maybe this had nothing to do with her.

Mrs. Sonny Quinn. It had nice ring to it, but Holy. Hell.

Davis is so deep in her thoughts, she didn't realize when Sonny walked back into the room until he kissed the back of her neck and she jumped.

"Whoa there Officer Davis, it's just me." She turns and looks him over. Trent did a good job patching him up, everything's healing nicely. He's got adorable looking bed head and his sweats are teasingly low on his waist. His eyes are staying focused on her, like there's nothing else going on and his chest continues to rise and fall ever so slightly in a beautiful rhythm.

This was going to be hard and even labelling it "hard" is an understatement. He'd be overseas kinda alone, and she'd be here stateside kinda alone. She has to think "kinda alone" because he'd have Romeo and other personnel on base, she'd have the guys and another female, like Naima to talk too, but they wouldn't have each other. Looking at him now though and savoring the last few days of alone time she had with him, she didn't care if he came home a total wreck. If he came home and found himself unable to sleep, she'd stay up with him. If he came home and every muscle and bone ached from sleeping on dirt and trekking through deplorable terrain, she'd buy him buckets of hydrogel. If he came home and needed to sleep with his other girlfriend aka his rifle for the first few nights, she'd understand. If he came home and one of his brothers didn't, she'd help him shave his beard for the ceremony. If he came home in one piece, but a different Sonny Quinn than the one who left, she'd make sure he knew she loved him—no matter what. Of course all of this, all of these scenarios, were only _if_ he came home in the first place.

"Come home from Afghanistan." She gets back in bed, resting on her knees so they're a little more eye level. She intertwines their fingers and kisses the back of his hands like he did during the drive home after his bar fight. "I don't care what condition, just come home." They stay forehead to forehead and let it linger for some time.

"Yes m'am."

She pulls him down and they both land on their backs, pillows and blankets getting thrown around at the same time. As far as she's concerned, they can stay like this until the absolute last second. Until his feet have to make contact with the floor of the C-130, they can stay just like this.

A/N: Thanks for being patient lovelies, I'm going to try my best to upload the next chapter in a day or two; and thanks for expressing your love for the story, it means more than you know :) As for this chapter: sorry Stella fans! If you know her and Clay's ship name could you let me know? Please and thank you :)


	5. Chapter 5

The days went by way too fast for Davis' liking. It felt like five seconds ago she was bursting through Sonny's door fresh from OCS and now she's driving him back to base. They met the guys at their usual bar and they all took send-off shots to wish him well and made plans to do welcome home shots when he returned. The rest of Bravo wasn't indulging in the possibility of Sonny not coming home. At the sight of Sonny's appearance and being familiar with the look of the guys, the bar owner gave the shots "on the house." He thanked all them for their service and told Sonny his beers would be on the house when he returned. She purposely parked a little bit aways from the gate entrance and turned the engine off. The C-130 was taking up practically her entire windshield, personnel still loading things and guys trickling onto the carrier.

"Hey?" The held hands the whole way, but she avoided making eye contact nearly the entire drive. She didn't want to be one of those girls. She was a badass Naval Officer. She'd done things other women—and men—could never imagine. Her stature wasn't large and commanding, but that sure as hell didn't show her strength. She was stronger than crying in the car at the sight of watching a loved one heading off to a war-torn region. "Lisa. Look at me." That was all it took. When she tried to hide behind a broken smile, her raised cheeks caused the opposite effect. The tears overflowed and she tried her best to stop them. "I'm coming back. Unfortunately, I'll be the same Sonny Quinn, but you'll have me back." Stupid Sonny. This was not the time to be cracking jokes, but it worked and her tears stopped.

"God I hate Shaw." This time he was able to take a breath and laugh.

"After I get back I'll kick his ass."

"As long as I get to watch."

"Freaky. I like it." After the giggling dies down, they both lean over the console at the same time. She tries to remember everything. The curly texture of his hair that'll more than likely come back full of sand. The smooth texture of his hands that'll probably come back rough, splintered and smelling of gun powder. His fresh scent that'll wear off probably as soon as they land in Afghanistan and the soft lips she won't feel for three (maybe six) months. "Oh I almost forgot!"

"What?" She watches him pat himself looking for something.

"We should exchange something shouldn't we?"

"Exchange?"

"Yeah isn't that what couples do. Clay told me about it, like some kind of jewelry or clothing one person keeps for the other person and the person away is supposed to come back for it." It's not the first word you think of when you think Navy Seal, but there wasn't a more adorable Navy Seal than Sonny Quinn. As he continues to freak out, Davis takes the American Flag bandana from his head.

"This'll work." She puts it on her head and only then he realizes its off his head.

"That's my favorite bandana."

"Perfect. Your favorite person will keep your favorite bandana until you come back for it. And you better come back for it."

"Yes m'am." They share more kisses until the giant engines on the C-130 begin to rev. "I gotta go."

"I know. Just come home. Just come home."

"I will. I love you."

"I love you too." He puts his apartment keys in the cupholder and jumps out. He grabs his bag and slings it over his shoulder.

"Midnight, USA time." She watches him spin around and scream over the engines.

"Midnight, USA time." She repeats. When he landed in Afghanistan, he promised the first thing to do after finding his hooch (and some privacy) was to call Davis. He steals a few more glances in her direction before his feet make contact with the floor of the C-130 and he enters the carrier.

The countdown to when it lands with everyone (especially Sonny) back home and the mission complete begins. She stays until the carrier's in the air and completely out of sight. As much as she wants to leave base immediately, she waits until she has her composure back. The last thing she needed was to get into an accident on the way home five seconds after Sonny left.

She stares out at the open airfield and when looking to her sides, watches civilians piling crying kids back into their cars, also trying to maintain their composure and trying to drive off relatively soon. She may not be able to tell anyone she knows exactly how they feel, but she wasn't alone. Holding his apartment key in her hand, she doesn't plan on spending too much time at her place. Being in his place, surrounded by everything Sonny would (hopefully) make this easier. Just as she starts the engine her phone rings, but its a number she doesn't recognize.

"Hello?"

"So I've just learned that formal requests make cake eaters go weak so I'd like to put in a formal request at this time…" Sonny. The phone on the C-130 is for emergencies. How he got a hold of it and to make this kind of call he'd probably never tell her, but she loved him for it. "When I return, could you meet me at base in a sexy version of your dress whites? I'll have all the appropriate paper work filled out ahead of time if that helps."

"What if this phone is being monitored?"

"By who? Some other cake eater whose stuck in a windowless room and doesn't get any? They should be grateful to hear something this exciting."

"You're something else."

"You love it."

"Very true. How's the first hour of deployment?"

"It's alright. Guys seem cool, gonna get briefed soon on what we'll be tasked with. You doing okay?"

"Just driving home. Let me ask you something, have you ever washed this bandana?"

"Why?"

"Because it smells like beer, grilling smoke and your apartment…you know like you."

"You're welcome."

"Ha! Thank you, I'm sure it'll help me sleep at night."

"Hey, before I forget. Always leave me a message or a voicemail. You know how things happen and I may miss a scheduled talk or something, but still call just so I know…you know…"

"Yeah you know I will."

"Good, I'll try my…"

"Quinn, let's roll! HVT's making some moves, shifting our timeline."

"Gotta go, I'll call you later. I love you."

"Be safe. I love you too."

Short phone calls were a standard during spin ups. Romantic comedies where couples stay on the phone talking for hours about nothing would be like a dream come true now. It was still super early into deployment, but Davis had to admit so far so good. She initiated the first one, but it made her feel good that Sonny ended every conversation telling her he loves her and she never heard the phone click until he heard her say it back. When she got back to his place, she cleaned the entire thing from top to bottom. It was nervous energy, but at least it was productive. She really wanted to throw on his clothes, grab the beer she was positive he had in the fridge, grab some ice cream from the freezer and never leave his bed until he came back. Killing time until midnight, she watched almost every military movies you could think of from _A Few Good Men _to_ Pearl Harbor, _saving _An Officer and a Gentlemen _for last. Close to midnight, her laptop dinged and Sonny's face popped up.

"Whoa, already?"

"Yeah, rolling in ten." Her question was in response to the way he looked. He was dressed in his camo, his gear attached to him, sunglasses resting on top of the Texas flag stitched to his vest, his helmet on and night vision flipped up. His other girlfriend was front and center, his hands practically glued in formation. "Wanted to call you first."

"Wow, you guys can't catch a break already huh?"

"Tell me about it. Hopefully since we've hit the ground running maybe we'll finish this tour early too."

"I'll keep my fingers crossed for you guys. I know you can't tell me much, but is this recon, Gucci, capture, recover…"

"You gonna go through the entire vocabulary?"

"I probably could." They both laugh, but its like the laugh they shared before he boarded. It's loaded. It's part laughing, part coping mechanism.

"Daytime is never Gucci. I'll call you when I get back."

"No grab some sleep first. I don't want you wasting away."

"I got some on the plane. I'm alright." He puts his sunglasses on and smiles extra hard at the camera. "How do I look?"

"America's lucky to have you."

"Damn straight. I love you Davis."

"I love you too Sonny." He ends the video chat and is off to do something his Country has asked of him without hesitation.

Maybe she was overreacting, but Davis could see the change already. He didn't need to sleep. That wouldn't be a big deal to anyone else, but she knew Sonny. His adrenaline was now full blown and it wasn't going to subside anytime soon. He probably slept on the carrier, but that was probably because he took a sleeping pill and couldn't fall asleep on his own. Its not like he got a peaceful seven/eight hours on the plane either. It was still a plane, full of people, noise and giant engines that kept it in the air. If she had to guess, maybe he got four hours and that was being generous. When the pill wore off, he was ready to go again and there was no stopping him. His rifle had her rightful spot across his chest and his hands used to the metal. Thankfully, his eyes hadn't changed. He still had the soft spot and depth that showed there was more to the man than just being a Navy Seal. For now.

—

"What is Lisa Davis doing drinking in a bar alone?" She didn't have to turn around to know that voice was Jason Hayes. If he was here, the rest of Bravo was right behind him.

"Hey guys. Wanna join so I don't look so sad and pathetic?"

"When you put it that way." Clay holds up his hand and asks for two pitchers of beer, taking a seat next to her.

"And a bottle of Jack," Ray adds, taking the seat on the other side of her, "so we can pretend Sonny's here."

"Good call. Anyone heard from him lately?" Brock fills everyone's glasses, passing them around.

"Talked to him a few weeks ago, said its so hot he thinks he's sweated out any chance he had of having kids so there's that." Trent and everyone else tries not to laugh, but they all fail. Even Davis momentarily forgets how worried she is and laughs.

"Damn I miss that guy," Clay lamented. They all get comfortable and raise a shot to Sonny.

In the span of twelve weeks, only two scheduled calls were missed. Considering Davis and Sonny made plans to talk at least once every few days, those odds are damn near astronomically lucky. She always made sure to find herself in front of a screen when it was close to the time Sonny said he'd be calling and they had a pretty successful system working. The small problem was the two calls missed were the last two. In consecutive order. That never happened before. From the little snippets she's gathered, Romeo took over for Charlie Team and they're tasked with capturing an HVT whose been holding an entire village in northern Afghanistan captive. Normally, this kind of behavior would grab the military's attention, but it wouldn't require the use of a Tier One Team except the HVT is supposedly in command of this particular branch of ISIS and ordered the ambush and subsequent killing of an American soldier patrolling the outskirts of the village. Romeo's been ordered to, if possible, capture the HVT alive so the US can obtain names, plans, any information pertinent to the US and her allies that will help with the war against terror. If not possible, they've been given permission to use extreme prejudice and bring Petty Officer Sean Lincoln's family some justice.

Thanks to her experience, Davis knew when trying to capture—or maybe kill—an HVT, it was pretty mundane work and research until you got their exact location and then the "fun" would begin. The work and research took longer than the movies and tv shows made it seem though. She had no exact proof, but that's probably why his deployment window was spaced so far between three and six months. This was like Mexico, however long it would take, it would take. Romeo wasn't coming home until the man who ordered the killing of one of their own was shown justice from the best soldiers America could supply. It was the unknowns that were driving Davis crazy. She'd been on plenty of similar missions like the one Sonny's on now, there have been countless Mexico's, but still each one was different. It was the things Sonny couldn't tell her even if he wanted, the things said with only Romeo One, Romeo Two and a ranking officer knew that she didn't know, but wanted to. Everything she knew she pieced together herself listening intently when Sonny told her something and using her years of experience. She wanted to know every detail, everything Sonny had to do, what he was doing, the kinds of raids he had to go on, the kinds of people Romeo was trusting to give them reliable information, everything. Just everything.

Now with her status as an Officer, she had the unique perspective and now understood why operators hated cake eaters with a passion. When missions were green lit, officers had no idea the number of unknowns and how plain exhausting it was. They always took a thousand years to green light, wanted ninety nine percent reassurance nothing would go wrong and wanted one hundred percent of the praise if things went smoothly, zero percent of the blame if it went sideways. Davis remembered very vividly what life was like before she became an Officer and now that she's had both side of the spectrum, she's gotta admit if she had to choose sides, she'd side with the Operators. When her phone vibrates in her pocket she all, but jumps out of her seat and giggles like a little girl. There's that face. When the guys look in her direction completely confused, she turns her phone so they what she sees. Clay swipes her phone to open the FaceTime.

"Jesus! Ken Doll is the last thing I want to see. Turn the phone please."

"I love you too Sonny. Happy to see your face."

"What's going on Sonny? How're you doing?" With her phone leaning up against the tea light, everyone moves in and out of the camera except her. Leave it to Bravo One to check in first. He never said it out loud, but Lisa knew he felt guilty for getting Sonny spun up.

"Still alive."

"Glad to see you hanging in there brother."

"I hate the number two Ray Perry."

"Looks good on you though. No visible signs of trauma, you look alright. Do I wanna know if thats water or tequila in that bottle?"

"Tell you what Trent, hop on a plane and come taste it for yourself," they watch Sonny remove his helmet and tussle his hair so it has a chance to breathe. "Davis. Find some privacy for a minute. I need you to do something for me."

"Damn Sonny you could at least say please. It's not like she's your personal assistant."

"Shove it Brock," another run through his hair. "PLEASE find some privacy, I need you."

"It's okay. I'll be right back guys, pour me another glass." She takes her phone from the tea light and heads outside, a little off to the side of the entrance. "You doing okay?" Her tone is softer and she makes sure to make eye contact with him.

"Yeah, its like I said I need you." Another tussle.

"I know babe. When's the last time you slept?"

"Caught five hours a few hours ago." His tone is softer too, now that he's not around the guys.

"Take off the sunglasses." He doesn't fight her demand and she can see the evidence. "How's it really been?"

"We're getting grilled harder than the tri-tip at your going away party."

"Raids and recon assignments not yielding any results?"

"We can't get a handle on the people. Sometimes we think they're being genuine, other nights its like we're convinced they're leading us into an ambush. I don't know."

"How's the translator? He can't provide any insight on what they say? Maybe how they say it that can give you guys some kind of heads up?" One of the pros of knowing about this kind of thing is the advice she can give. Civilians who don't know about this life could offer the usual things people say, but she could offer actual advice that Romeo could use.

"He's no Blonde Jesús." Another tussle. She watches him chug whatever in the rest of the bottle and toss it behind him. He rubs his eyes until they're red and near bloodshot. If she were beside him and not looking at him through a screen she would know what to do. She wouldn't have to use words or even sex to comfort him. Being in close proximity, around her and around the rest of Bravo is all he really needs. Early into his drafting to Bravo Davis realized, which isn't abnormal with a lot of team guys, but Sonny was always better in every sense of the word when he had his brothers around him.

"How's the rest of the day look?"

"Nothing so far. Mike and I have to be back in TAC at twelve for another briefing." He stands and begins removing his gear, even Davis can see the beads of sweat starting to roll down his forehead. As she expected, his rifle goes right by his pillow, the butt of the gun flush against the floor. He puts his helmet next to his vest and removes his long sleeve camo. Before it even hits the floor, Davis whistles. The situation sucks and Sonny was starting to wean, so anything she could do to make him feel better she was gonna do. "That'll cost you when I get home. You can't just get sneak peeks of this for free."

"Sorry Senior Chief Quinn. You like the way that sounds?"

"Only when you say it. When I get home though, say it like that, but a little slower and in a lower voice."

"Shut up."

"Hey, you started it."

"I know. I just miss you."

"I miss you too." His boots kick the corner of the hooch he shares with Mike and he unzips his pants, hanging them off the edge of the bed. He pulls his American Flag from the wall and wraps himself in it.

"Delicious." With just his boxers, sunglasses and cowboy hat on, he sits back down in front of the camera. She can see his shoulders relaxing and chest rising and falling in a more even form. For the first time in weeks, they share a laugh that's just a laugh and not trying to be something else. "Gonna try and get some sleep?"

"Yeah."

"Good, don't burn the candle at both ends."

"Trying not to. Sorry about missing the last few calls, things just got cra…"

"Don't apologize. I know how it is. Be safe, I love you."

"I will, I love you too."

Before going back to meet the guys, Davis takes a few minutes to gather herself. All in all, Sonny was holding up, but he was starting to fade and this mission was taking a lot out of him. If she had to place money on it, the _entire _bottle wasn't tequila, but there was at least a splash in it. It was nice to hear him say it, but she knew he was missing her and the guys, the evidence was all over his person. Sonny was really tan, a one or two shades away from being considered sun burned, probably from working out in the sun, something he'd be doing with Brock if the rest of Bravo had been deployed too. From what she could see, his side of the hooch wasn't dirty, but everything was everywhere; if Clay were with him, his things would be a little more organized.

She could tell by his tone he was dreading going back to TAC, the more he had to deal with the cake eaters, the more agitated and "off his game" he got, something all of Bravo admitted Ray was always the best at handling, even better than Jason. As cool as Mike was, he wasn't Bravo One, Jason Hayes. J knew all the "bad" behavior Sonny usually found himself in and how Clay was usually roped into it, but he never punished Sonny. Ray, even without Jason's prodding, usually reigned them back in and reminded them to not get too crazy. Davis could tell Sonny missed Jason. During previous video chats, Sonny told her he and Mike were getting to know each other better over beers and a shot or two with the rest of the guys, but still, he wasn't Jason. And the rest of Romeo wasn't Bravo.

Because he was Romeo Two, he was now tasked with making important decisions in the field and not just offering input or suggestions. Mike was depending on him to not only make decisions, but execute on those decisions and try not to get any other team members killed. That's something Jason and Ray did in tandem. Doing things so seamlessly took years of trust, deployments and close calls to build. Davis knew what he was trying to say when he said he was having trouble trusting the intel civilians were giving; she knew he was extending that to the rest of Romeo. No, nobody on Romeo wanted to kill him or kill any other ally, but it was just a different team.

Another thing Commander Kill Joy didn't understand. Breaking teams apart and putting them back together however which way was the worst thing you could do. Every team had their own thing. This wasn't like grade school when you're assigned a group project and pair kids every which way. Deploying was hard enough, deploying with a different team just added unnecessary unknowns. She knew it was starting to take a toll, that's why she told him not to burn the candle at both ends. Something told her it was already happening.

A/N: Thanks a million for the kind reviews , I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter :)


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Apologies for the long wait. Don't you hate when life gets in the way of your writing?

—

"I'm sorry."

When your significant other is deployed, traveling or just plain far away from home, a message saying I'm sorry is the last thing you want to hear. I'm sorry and:

"Something happened." Followed by another:

"I'm sorry" declaration.

Davis got both messages from Sonny practically one am USA time, meaning it was bright and early in Afghanistan. She was actually sleeping pretty sound in his bed when she heard the ding from her phone and then her laptop. Before she could even think, she typed back:

"It's okay."

What was she okay with she had no idea, but she figured it was best to put his mind at ease first. Her mind was already racing like that night at the kitchen sink after they escaped further repercussions from Commander Kill Joy. She trusted Navy Seal Sonny and relationship Sonny equally, but this was deployment. This was war. It wasn't because of a lack of faith or character that all soldiers in war sometimes did things outside of their normal character.

Being deployed was like being stressed and on high alert 24/7. It made even the strongest military personnel crumble at points. What did Sonny do to feel sorry for? Did something happen during this last execution that has him feeling sorry? Did he cross some kind of personal line he never wanted to cross? Did he get plastered and wake up…not in his own bed…and with no clothes on…? Was this something they could get passed? Could she forgive him if he explained the circumstances and reasoning? She hated that her mind started to move away from a mission mistake to a personal mistake Sonny may have made, but she couldn't help it.

The somewhat pro and somewhat con of being around team guys so often was they regularly treated her like one of them and spoke candidly about their exploits, conquests and things they did overseas they'd never do at home. She knew more than she wanted to about the guys and their behaviors and preferences and that included Sonny, even before they got together. Being around them, she knew how they thought. No one wants to feel alone and everyone wants to feel some level of comfort, that's usually why the ones without a stable family or love life seek out alcohol or women or both. She sure as hell wasn't the first women to ever sleep with Sonny, but something told her she was the first real, serious and stable girlfriend he's had. They were both alike in that they both enlisted as soon as they could and there was no way she could see eighteen/ nineteen year old Sonny with a serious girlfriend.

Now that they were so far apart, it would crush her, but she could see how he might revert back to his old ways. Some trainee or recruit stationed in Afghanistan on their first deployment could be looking at a team guy to help them adjust. They look at team guys like they're Captain America, basically praise the ground they walk on and gawk at how strong and fearless they are. Pretty soon day workouts turn into late night drinks and then adrenaline charged kisses and then guilt filled sex where the newbies feel safe and the team guy feels something…anything. Was Sonny going numb and did he do something to temporarily remedy the feeling?

"You still there?" At least ten minutes had passed and Sonny still hadn't typed anything since saying he was sorry and admitting "something happened." She flicks the bedroom light on and stares at the screen waiting for his response. The fact he didn't request to video call gave her cause to worry, but she was trying to stay optimistic. "It's okay. Really."

Still nothing from him.

"You wanna talk about it? It's okay if you don't." Two minutes later the request to FaceTime appeared. "Hey," she says it so softly, she's not sure he hears.

"I'm sorry Davis. I'm so sorry." She notices he has his head against the wall, just under a window that's providing the sunlight. He's got no shirt, but his sunglasses still on.

"It's okay. Sonny, really. It's okay."

"I'm sorry." He's got helmet hair and from what she can see of his face, he's got dirt and sand and little bits of face paint still stuck on him. Whatever Romeo just did it was clandestine and involved trekking most likely somewhere high or the use of explosives or maybe both. When he raises his knee to use it as pillow, she catches the wince and mix of blood and dirt making a kind of paste caked onto his knuckles and palms. "I didn't mean for it to happen."

"I know."

"Kill Joy's gonna have my head if I come home."

"Don't worry about him."

"'…looking like a poor excuse for a United States Navy Seal.' Think he'd approve of my behavior now?" Davis didn't know how to answer that question. She still didn't know what Sonny was feeling sorry for and what happened that he never meant to happen.

"You're the best Seal—and person—I know."

"I guess."

"I really believe that."

"I don't know if I do." Davis looks in the corner of the screen and sees trainees in the typical attire of gray t-shirts with NAVY printed across in bold, black ink, black shorts, white socks and athletic sneakers just on the other side of the window. They're giggling with some teams guys outside and she can feel the jealousy rising. "Not anymore."

"I love you Sonny."

"Yeah, I love you too." She watches him hit his head against the wall, trying in a vail attempt to get some thought or memory out of his head. Before anything else can be said, the chat disconnects through no fault of either one of them effectively ending the call. Of all the times they could get a bad connection, it has to be now when Sonny really needed her and her anxiety was at an all time high. She knew trying to reconnect was futile so she grabbed her phone and text him instead.

"It's gonna be okay. I promise. I'm not going anywhere and you'll be alright."

"Thanks," is his only response. There's not much else to say when someone says what she just did, but regular Sonny would've cracked a joke or gotten dramatic about losing connection just when he was gonna ask about cyber sex.

Sleep was now long forgotten about. Like she did after every conversation, Davis replayed the entire thing and every word Sonny said. This time especially, since he barely said much except repeating how sorry he was. She particularly remembered what he said about Kill Joy and _if _he returned home, not when. Anyone ever deployed anywhere always says _when _they come home as a comfort thing. No one wants to curse themselves by saying _if _they come home, if you put it out there in the Universe that you will be coming home, you like to think God, the Universe, whoever you believe in, will grant your wish and allow you to return home safe and sound. Sonny was talking about _if _he returned, like the same indifference he had about coming home before she became more than his friend.

He was now gone for five months and she didn't want to use the word, but he was cracking. The good news, he would be coming home in another month, maybe sooner if Romeo accomplished their objective. The bad news, if it was a mission fail, Kill Joy would not want to hear the reasons—legitimate or otherwise—as to why it wasn't completed. Not to mention Petty Officer Sean Lincoln's family would be robbed of the justice they deserve. If she could remind Sonny of his life back home, video chat with him at least once a week for just about the next four weeks, get Bravo to keep in touch with him as much as possible and just be there for him, she felt like he could hang on. Four weeks felt like an eternity, but they had no choice.

—

All Davis could think about was that stupid saying about how the best laid plans always go astray. Four weeks and not one video chat, phone call, text, emoji, handwritten letter, nothing from Sonny. That's never happened before. Putting their relationship aside, even as friends, she and Sonny had never gone this long without talking. They always kept in touch. No matter what. She was on base receiving her paperwork of where they'd like her in the coming weeks and something told her it wouldn't be close to home. If she was feeling a twinge of regret before, it was now full blown. Sonny should be on his way back stateside soon (if Romeo's deployment wasn't extended) and now she'd be the one getting ready to leave. She was happy working with Bravo, well-respected by the guys and earned every commendation, why she had to go ahead and fulfill the need to push herself and become an officer she didn't know, but she was starting to regret the decision. Sonny changed a lot for her, maybe she was changing too.

This meeting is so boring, she thinks about her relationship to keep her eyelids from falling and her head hitting the table. She momentarily freaked when she overhead Ray telling Sonny about Naima and the kids and how Sonny will realize one day there's a woman he sees as his wife and the mother of his kids, but maybe she wasn't freaking because Sonny was having those talks. Maybe she was freaking because she was seeing Sonny differently. It's no secret she loved Navy life and serving her country, but something was happening. Pre-Sonny she was secure in every decision she was making and quite content with the spontaneous upheaval that came with military life, now though, now Sonny was crossing her mind and influencing her decisions. No way she was ready to live Naima's life and "hold down the fort," keep the kids from worrying, work and keep the house functioning, but maybe she didn't want to be Officer Lisa Davis forever with no one to come home too or kids of her own.

After what feels like a thousand years, the meeting is over and Davis all but sprints from the room. There's no paperwork detailing where the new class of officers will be, but when its ready they'll all get word. Just as she leaves through the back door, ready to speed home (to Sonny's place) and throw on one of his shirts, she sees Jason's truck parked. She heads back inside and into Bravo's locker room, where sure enough all of Bravo minus Sonny is gathered around the center table, hunched over and laughing so hard they can barely catch their breathe.

"…so what was her name?" Clay can barely get out through the laughs.

"Fuck if I know. Told it was hotter with no names." Sonny.

"That's my move! Guessing it worked?" Jason is rubbing the happy tears from his eyes.

"Hell yeah. Barely made it back to my hooch before Mike woke up."

"Please let me know the joke too. I could use a laugh."

"Hey Davis," Ray looks over Jason's shoulder to see her standing by the door. "Hey Sonny, Davis is here."

"You gotta tell her the story Sonny!" Brock throws a tennis ball to Cerberus who makes a few laps around the guys before catching it.

"What story? What's so funny?" Her worst nightmare come true. She already knew. She even had a feeling before she knew.

"Nothing."

"No come on Sonny, it's only Davis. She's heard worse from all of us," when no other noise comes from Clay's phone Brock continues, "Sonny got this hot recruit by telling her he was part of the team that took out Bin Laden. She used this line about wanting to thank him for his service by performing a service on him." The table erupts in another round of laughter and despite the shot to the heart, she saves face and laughs too.

"Listen guys, I gotta go. I got wheels up in a few hours and I still haven't packed."

"Alright man safe flight." Trent speaks what everyone was thinking.

"Yeah I'll meet you on base."

"Thanks Clay. See you guys. See ya Davis." The call ends and the guys regain their composure.

"He sounds better." How she as able to formulate words and keep up a brave face she could thank her military training for.

"Yeah he does. We were getting worried. Sonny's not the relationship type, all he needs is alcohol and a different girl under him and he's good." She knows Trent wouldn't say those things if he knew about her and Sonny, but damn they hurt.

"Yeah. I guess. I'm gonna go, just saw J's truck and thought I'd pop in."

To not look suspicious and seem as natural as possible, she strolls back to her car in a calm and cool demeanor. When her phone vibrates in her pocket, she ignores the alert, assuming its Sonny and some half-ass excuse to his behavior. She puts in her headphones and purposely searches her iTunes playlist for the perfect song to match her current mood, deciding to blast _Just Give Me A Reason _by Pink. She flings her bags in the back and is nearly in the driver seat when she feels a hand on her shoulder. Her thorough training has her ready to break whoever's arm it is, but she hesitates, turning around to see a friendly face. Clay's to be exact.

"Hey I tried calling you from the door. You okay?"

"Yeah, headphones in, sorry. What's up? Did you need something?" She takes out her earbuds and tosses them in the car.

"No, I'm good, just wanted to check in. You kinda ducked out pretty fast."

"Aww, don't tell me now that I've left Bravo you miss me more than you ever imagined?"

"Nice deflection," she steps back a little surprised Clay picked up on it. "Pros of having an ex whose a grad student. Stella called me out on it every time. What's really going on?"

"Nothing Clay, I'm good. Really. It was just a long meeting. I'm gonna head home and unwind."

"You worried about Sonny?"

"What?"

"Hey, it's cool if you are. We all are too. That's the like the second time we've got him on the phone since he spun up, but you heard him, he sounds better."

"Yeah he does."

"So why do you look like you have this big secret, like before you told us about OCS?"

"Nothing. Just thinking about graduation, where I'm gonna be stationed, boring cake eater stuff you team guys definitely don't wanna hear about."

"Oh do you regret graduation?! You can always come back to Bravo. It's not the same without you."

"Ha thank you for offer, but becoming an officer is my biggest dream realized. I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"Alright, alright, well perk up. In a few hours, Sonny'll be back and we can go celebrating getting Kill Joy out of our lives in Bravo fashion."

"Sounds good." They share a hug and she watches him jog back inside to join the guys. His legs are back working in tip top shape and despite her breaking heart, watching that makes her smile. It didn't feel like that long ago she was granted temporary leave to visit him in the hospital and he looked terrible.

She doesn't break down until she passes the guard on duty who checks her ID before letting her through. Besides feeling like an idiot for agonizing over their relationship, she had successfully talked herself out of believing Sonny made a personal mistake. She had believed it was a mission mistake he made and that's why he was beating himself up, but it did turn out to be her first thought.

Instead of going to his place, she went home. To her place. His American flag bandana fell out her bag as she put her things away and that was it. She turned into a chick-flick character who goes home to a empty place and cries over some stupid guy. Except Sonny wasn't just "some stupid guy." He was Sonny. The Sonny that took her to the range and got her extremely familiar with the extra heavy weaponry in the unlikely event she'd need to use it and she did like the time she and Ray got left behind in the American Embassy in South Sudan. This was the same Sonny that stayed with her for the entire weekend after they visited Danny in the VA hospital and before she could even do it herself, he was the one to wipe the few tears away. The same Sonny that confessed he left his hat at her place on purpose because he wanted a reason to go back a second night. The Sonny that drove them miles from Virginia Beach for a simple coffee date because he wanted to get out and be a normal civilian couple for an hour.

All these months later, his bandana still smelled like him and she had gotten really attached to it. She had to have it close to her when she was going to sleep and often wore it all night. He was the one deployed, but it had a impact on her too. There were plenty of times she was worried so bad she couldn't sleep. There were plenty of times she felt indifferent, borderline numb, but she never went looking for a random team guy. Sonny was her first real serious relationship that up until hearing that story, was thinking of building a life with. She thought she was handling their relationship and long distance pretty good compared to other stories she's heard. The thought never crossed her mind that Sonny could do that. And to her.

She told him and herself neither of them had a good track record of making relationship works. She knew that, but Sonny was worth the risk. She also meant it when she said she didn't want to spend her life wondering what if. Now that this is the outcome and pretty much the end of their relationship she was wishing they had kept things friendly. If they had broken up a different way, a more amicable way, there's a chance they could still be friends.

Now, she wouldn't be able to look at Sonny without feeling hurt and betrayed. She was mad at herself more than anyone else, even more than she should be mad at Sonny. As angry as she was, as disappointed as she was and as hurt as she was, she wanted an explanation. And not just the usual explanation like: "I was drunk" or "I don't remember," but a real explanation. But then again, what explanation could Sonny give? He cheated. And he was the one that practically begged her to give him a shot. He was the one that had to convince her to give in and give him a chance. He was the one that through his stumbling words, wanted them to be exclusive before she left for OCS. That's why he said he was sorry. This was the "something" that "happened" that had him hitting the memory out of his head.

Forget everything she was thinking, now she was ready for her new assignment as an Officer and was hoping it'd be somewhere far away from base. And far away from Sonny. She needed all the time and space in the world to recover.

A/N: Everyone remember to breathe and don't kill me LOL We'll get through this. I promise. Can't wait to read your reviews/reactions :)


	7. Chapter 7

"Davis, it's me. Can I come in? Come on Lisa please? I swear its not what you think."

She lifts her head from her couch and has to remember this isn't a dream. She didn't even know when she fell asleep or how long Sonny's been at her door. Glancing at her phone on her coffee table, there's seven text messages from Sonny, five missed calls, two voicemails and one text from Jason. Ignoring the messages from the person she now considers her Ex, she opens Jason's text:

"Bravo 3 is back. Drinks at 10." He sent it in a group message and everyone responded with a different emoji. Ray sent a thumbs up, Trent a motorcycle, Brock the beer glasses and Clay an American flag. Sonny responded with an American Eagle, to which all the guys responded with the shark emoji. The message was sent hours ago, but even if it was five minutes ago, she still wouldn't have responded. She could fake any emotion just as well as an Oscar winner, but her heartbreak was real. A little too real this time. Going to the bar, pretending everything was okay, on top of pretending she and Sonny weren't breaking the rules by dating, on top of pretending they're pretty much broken up as far as she was concerned, it would all be too much. If—and it was a big—IF she went, the only bright spot would be seeing him alive and well. As crushed as she was, she didn't want him dead.

"I swear I didn't do anything with a recruit. I love you, please let me in."

She didn't want to leave him standing at the door too much longer, but she didn't exactly rush to open it. Her need for an explanation greatly outweighing how bad she was feeling that he was basically talking to her door and to an empty hallway.

"Come on Davis, please? I screwed up, but it's not what you think. I swear it's not what you think or heard."

Walking down the little pathway, she checks herself in the mirror before opening the door. She wanted to beat the crap out of Sonny and she wanted to look good doing it. Not to mention, letting him grovel a few extra seconds made her feel a little better.

"I'm…" He stops talking as soon as the door opens and smiles at her like there's no one else in his life. His bags are still slung around his chest and back and his sunglasses are resting on the brim of his University of Texas cap. "Hey," the way he says it still makes her go weak and she hates that, "you look good." He points up and she remembers she fell asleep with his bandana on.

"Here." She takes it off and flings it at him, putting a hand on the door knob, ready to channel her inner dramatic side and slam it closed on his face, but she wants her explanation first. "Why? How could you do that?"

"Lisa, I swear it's not what you think. I swear. Can I come in and explain? Please?"

"Let's just forget this ever happened. I knew this was a bad idea and you just proved it to be true." She forgoes wanting an explanation. With him here now, within touching distance and no longer through a screen, it's becoming too much. Seeing his face has her remembering every moment they've shared from those first few flirtations and almost kisses to intimate pillow talks where she divulged things she never told anyone else. Like about her family, her drunk and absentee mom and little sisters, one whose deceased and the other whose destined to hate her forever for not saving _all_ of them from the fire. Pillow talks where Sonny confessed he didn't really know how to be in a relationship and was mimicking Jason and Ray's behavior as best he could. That guy and the guy standing in front of her were two different people. "Let's just admit this was a mistake and that it's…"

"Don't say it, please don't say it."

"Sonny…"

"I can explain."

"I know what happened, I walked in while you were talking to the guys. I knew this was gonna happen so I guess I look like the idiot and you're the cool team guy who can now go around bragging that you bagged a Navy Officer. I'd just like to know why? I thought I was a damn good friend and a pretty good girlfriend…guess I was wrong on both accounts."

"No, no, no. Davis it's not…I would never…" as he takes small steps in, she steps back. He takes her hand from the door and closes it behind him giving them their much needed privacy. "I would never do that to you."

"What? Use me or cheat on me?" Before he can see the brimming tears, she turns and walks towards the kitchen, wiping the few that escape along the way. She can hear him dropping his bags by the door and following her footsteps.

"I didn't do anything in Afghanistan. I wouldn't do that to you. I missed you like crazy, but no woman came close to making me feel the way you do."

"Uh huh."

"I swear, I love you."

"Then what do you have to be sorry for? Why'd you tell me you were "sorry" and that "something happened" and you never meant for it to?" She watches him look down and open and close his mouth a few times before finally saying something.

"I need some time before I tell you. I can't just yet."

"Excuse me?"

"It's nothing personal I promise."

"So "something happened" in Afghanistan, but you need time before you tell me about it?"

"I know it's a lot to ask, but I need you…"

"Don't. I know you're not going to ask me to trust you." She watches him open his mouth to respond, ultimately settling on hanging his head. "I really thought we could do this."

"We are."

"Not anymore."

"Da…"

"I mean you were my best friend AND my boyfriend, that's why this hurts even more. There's no one I can talk to about my heartbreak. The guys don't know, Naima doesn't know and the people from OCS are cool, but I'm not close to them. It was just us and now there's no us."

"I'm sorry Lisa. I shouldn't have…"

"I'm sorry too Sonny." The two words that would crush her heart and Sonny's: "it's over" were on the tip of her tongue. It would mean an end to their short relationship and decades long friendship. She couldn't picture her life without Sonny in it and immediately she feels her chest tighten and more tears threaten to overflow. Just before she declares it out loud, she takes one more look at him.

He looked different. She didn't know how to describe it, but he looked different. She was familiar with all the post-deployment looks and she'd seen Sonny's look before, but never on him. There was the "feet on US soil, but eyes and body language still overseas look," the "eternally grateful be home alive look," the "meh I'm home look" and the "disturbed, scarred for life" look.

Sonny had the disturbed, scarred for life look on his face.

The worst she ever saw him was after Mumbai, where the team was pretty much in pieces after Alanna's untimely demise, Jason's thrust into balancing single parenthood and being Bravo's leader and then losing Adam. She'd seen the bruises on his knuckles from pounding them against the shower tiles and smelled the alcohol on his breath as they boarded the C-130 to come home. Now, he looked worse than that. With the quiet and neither of them saying anything, she notices how little he's blinking and the distant look in his face. His arms are stretched out straight against the kitchen island and his eyes are looking in the direction of the window, but she can tell his mind is elsewhere.

"How about I take you home to get some rest?" She decides to put off declaring "it's over" until later. Breaking up with someone as soon as they come home was equally as cold-hearted as breaking up with someone before they spin up.

"I promise I'll tell you, I swear I will. I just need some time."

"Alright."

"I will."

"The entire truth?"

"The entire truth," he finally pulls away from the window and makes eye contact with her. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Last time she reassured him with the same words, she wasn't sure what she was okay with. Now, she knew she was lying, but there was something else. Something he was holding back that was in turn, making her hold back her declaration.

After she says it, he doesn't look as tense as before, but it wouldn't take their friends or complete strangers to realize something was still off between them. Davis can't help, but think back to the silent promise she made to herself to love Sonny—no matter his condition—upon returning home, but she never covered the possibility of still loving him if he cheated (under the stress of deployment). But did the fact that he _may _have done something unforgivable change the unforgivable part because it was deployment? Because it war? A highly charged environment with highly stressful situations day in and day out.

Out of all of Bravo, Sonny did the worst when he didn't have his brothers around him. Maybe Kill Joy was to blame for all of this happening. She already hated him with extreme prejudice, tacking the blame on him for whatever Sonny did, but still can't admit out loud was easy for her to imagine. She leans back against the sink and he stays on the other side of the kitchen. Once again, their plans for a crazy sexy reunion were thwarted, but this time only Sonny knew the reason why. She was going to try to be patient and try to be understanding, but it was hard with so much emotion involved.

"I shouldn't have said what I said to the guys…"

"If it was the truth, it was truth. Nothing you can do about it now."

"But that's the thing. I told…" Clay's face popping up on his phone interrupts the rest of what he's going to say. "I'll let him leave me a voicemail."

"No answer it, it's okay." Okay was quickly becoming her least favorite word in the world. Everything was the farthest thing from okay and now, she wanted to say it's over, so she could at at least start getting on with her life.

"Yeah Ken Doll?" He presses the speakerphone and puts the phone on the counter.

"I got a bottle with your name on it. I thought you'd be the first one here!" She watches Sonny look at her for some kind of permission to go drinking with his friends.

"I don't think…" she gets his attention by raising her hands and he presses the mute button.

"You need to go. It'll look suspicious if you don't."

"But…"

"Sonny, go. The guys deserve to see you too." He nods to her and unmutes the phone.

"I'll be there in ten and don't think about opening that bottle."

"Too late. Get here so we can celebrate sticking it to Kill Joy."

"Alright, I'm on my way." He hangs up the phone and they both make eye contact. "You wanna ride together?"

"No you go. I don't know if I'm gonna…" This time her phone rings from the coffee table and its Clay again.

"Hey Clay." She does the same, putting it on speaker so Sonny can hear too.

"Hey, you're on your way right?"

"No you guys should catch up alone. I'm always around base, I'll stop in next time and see everyone."

"But you have to come tonight, it's Sonny's first night back."

"I know, but…"

"Look, you were there for me after Stella and I appreciated it, but I never expected Sonny to be there too. He took me out drinking, which I expected, but he found time to read fuckin' Cosmo in order to find ways to make me feel better. He puts on a good front, but I know something's up. I think his stripper girlfriend broke up with him."

"He told you he has a stripper girlfriend?"

"Don't tell him I told you 'cause he'll kill me, but he admitted to me there is a girl when we were Gucci, before my legs were almost shot to hell. I added the stripper part myself because it's Sonny we're talking about."

"What'd he tell you about her?" She takes the phone off speaker and Sonny doesn't react. His eyes are staring out of the window again.

"Nothing, just that she's got a big heart and big dreams and that he doesn't want to get in the way of her big plans. I think he really likes her, but I don't think she can handle Navy Seal life."

"What makes you say that?"

"I think she broke up with him that's why he went looking for some recruit."

"Being around you guys will make him feel better."

"Yeah, but we need you there too. Sonny needs you there. You have a way with him."

"You make him sound like a wild horse."

"Yeah, but this cowboy barely rides." She doesn't mean too, especially given how upset she still is, but Clay's words make her smile and she let's out a small giggle. "You laughed so now you have to come. I'll see you in ten?" She hesitates before she answers, looking over the couch and at Sonny. He keeps taking off his hat and running his hands through his hair. He uses his left hand to massage his right shoulder and all the way down to his elbow. His eyes stay closed and he pinches the bridge of his nose every so often. "I'll see you in ten."

"Sweet!" She ends the call and goes back into the kitchen.

"You okay to drive to the bar on your bike?"

"I'll be good. I guess I should leave now so we don't show up at the same time."

"Smart thinking."

With one hand on the doorknob and one foot out the door, he turns one more time with his keys in hand. "I'm sorry I'm not boyfriend of the year."

When the time comes to go into the bar, Davis takes a minute to herself in the parking lot. Sonny's bike was parked and after a thorough look around, she counted the rest of the guys' vehicles too. Bravo in its entirety was in the bar, celebrating Sonny's safe return and the hopefully permanent exile of Shaw from their lives. If she and Sonny were still just friends or flirting with the idea of an illicit affair, she could head in and bask in the fun. If Sonny didn't give her butterflies, she could head in and laugh as the guys try to set him up with a waitress. If Sonny wasn't so simultaneously hardened and vulnerable at the same time, she could easily break up with him.

After taking a glance at the clock and realizing its almost ten-thirty, she finally gets out and heads inside. Right off the bat, she can see Sonny smiling and laughing, but it's not the genuine, hearty laughs. The guys are crowded around him and its clear they missed him. They're doing everything short of full hugs and kisses. Sonny's the first to acknowledge her presence and they all clear a spot for her to sit. With fresh shots all around, they raise their glasses.

"Alright. To Sonny Quinn, Romeo…" Jason starts.

"…and Petty Officer Sean Lincoln…" Sonny adds.

"Right, to Sonny Quinn, Romeo and to Petty Officer Sean Lincoln. The best of us don't come home." Everyone clanks shot glasses and swings back what the bar owner gave them "on the house."

"Hey Lisa! Lisa!" She turns to see a guy from OCS standing behind her. She jumps off the chair and gives him a hug, fully aware of the hand that's on the lower part of her back.

"Hey Watts. Guys, this is Dan Watts, we went through OCS together. Watts, this is Bravo."

"Hey," he smiles and waves, but is met with a lukewarm, borderline icy response from the guys. Trent and Brock look past him like he's not right in front of them, Clay knits his brow and sits up straighter, Ray looks him up and down with a hand covering his mouth so he doesn't say something he'll regret, Jason drills holes into him barely moving and blinking and Sonny was seconds from flipping the table over and beating the guy into the ground. "Is it me?" He bends down and whispers in her ear.

"No, it's not you. They're team guys and not a huge fan of us cake eaters."

"They don't seem to be killing you with their eyes."

"Let's just say I'm special."

"Ah, got it. In that case, care to join me at the bar for a sec? I'd like to introduce you to someone."

"Who?" She turns and scans the bar from side to side looking for a familiar face. There's no one there she recognizes, but one guy does have a face similar to Dan's, like they could be brothers or cousins.

"Is this guy serious right now?" To say Sonny was about to explode is like saying the sun is hot or the sky is blue. No shit he was about to explode.

"Excuse me? Did I say something wrong?"

"Please tell me this jerk-off is joking."

"Dan, no you're fine. Sonny, relax." The last bar fight rails its way to the forefront of Davis' mind. The way she saw it, Sonny got lucky that time. Dan may be a cake eater, but he wasn't a civilian who would easily back away.

"I just wanted to introduce you to my cousin. I didn't think you were in a relationship, I'm sorry if I assumed wrong, but you never spoke about someone at OCS. I figured it'd be okay to introduce you guys here since it's not like you're in a relationship with any of these guys."

"Unbelievable." She hears Sonny let out under his breath.

"Thanks Dan, I'm flattered, but…"

"Crap, you're dating someone aren't you?"

"Kind of…yeah, it's complicated."

"Understood. Promise to let me know if it doesn't work out?" Dan let's out a laugh, but it's cut short by the flung bottle cap that hits him in the face courtesy of Sonny to which the rest of Bravo laughs at. He walks back to his cousin without saying another word and it's too late and loud for Davis to apologize, he wouldn't hear it anyway.

"Really? What's the matter with you guys?"

"He's a cake eater. He should know to keep a safe distance from us." Trent affirms with all the guys nodding their heads in agreement.

"What do you guys say we call it a night? I'm over this bar tonight." Sonny suggests, already standing up and stretching.

"Yeah let's not jinx crossing paths with Kill Joy again," Jason surprisingly agrees.

They all part ways and head back to their own places for the night with loose plans to meet up on base or at Jason's or Ray's homes. Normally, Davis and Sonny would have some kind of agreement or understanding about whose place they're going to, but this time she drives to her place, not fully sure if he's coming along too. From her bedroom window she hears an engine rev from down the street and that answers her question.

After changing and waiting for a solid ten minutes, Davis steps back into her hallway fully expecting to see Sonny making his way to her room, but it's empty. Without turning on the lights, she opens the shades covering her kitchen window and let's the moonlight help her look around. The bathroom was clear, hallway was clear, kitchen and living room too. Just as she reached for her keys, ready to go scan for Sonny in her building hallway or even in the street, she turns to find him asleep behind the door, in the corner.

Bravo Three (temporarily Romeo Two) was still in a deployment mindset. Davis ticked off the mental checklist he probably went through in his head in picking this spot. He's up against the wall, behind the door and facing all potential open vantage points like the kitchen windows she just opened up. From his spot, no one can get the drop on him. His lumpy backpack is his pillow, resting lengthwise so he can get as much cushion as possible. The safety is on, but he's got his right hand clutching his hand gun and what Davis is sure are extra rounds in his left pocket, where his left hand is covering. He's breathing pretty steadily and his eyes are closed, but she knows if she only makes a noise louder than a dog whistle, in a matter of seconds he'll sprint up, open his eyes, turn the safety off and point his gun at any all perceived threats until it registers to him that he's back home.

She was still pissed beyond imagine at him, but staring at him like this, she couldn't deny she still loved him somewhere inside. He said no other woman came close to her, but she knew there was something. Something serious happened to him over there. It was serious because Sonny wasn't the type to lie to his brothers either. He was either lying to her, lying to Bravo, lying to himself or all three. If he was going to spend the night fitting his over-sized body into the tiny corner behind her door, she was going to keep an eye on him from the couch in the living room.

—

The unmistakable noise of tires being burned by asphalt, brakes screeching and metal crushing in ways it was never meant to crush, Davis jolts awake. It sounded like the crash happened a few streets away, but still the noise was enough to shake her awake. When she raises up from the couch, she could see Sonny looking around the kitchen and heading down another hallway to make sure everything was okay. It was a car accident, but fresh off a deployment to a war-torn region, even the chillest person on the planet could believe it was something else. When Sonny comes back, his right hand still holding his gun and his left rubbing his face and eyes, she calls out to him, but keeps her voice low.

"Hey, come here. We're alright."

"I thought it was right outside." He takes a seat next to her on the couch and rest his elbows on his knees.

"I know it sounded like it."

"Should we go help?" She looks back out the window and sees the faint reflection of red and blue lights illuminating the night sky.

"Looks like the cops are already on scene." She can hear him take a long exhale and while he's trying to relax, she takes the gun from his hand, putting the safety back on and resting it on the table. Sonny leans back on the couch with his eyes closed, but she can tell whatever's on his mind is really taking a toll. Using her expertise, and knowing Sonny as well as she did, she figured it was time to broach the subject, but to tread as lightly as possible.

"You check in with Mike and the rest of Romeo?"

"Yeah, everyone's alright."

"Kill Joy say anything to you when you guys landed?"

"Well done all. On behalf of the United States of America, thank you for operating with the utmost professionalism and accomplishing the mission. The nation is forever grateful." She cracks a smile at the haughty impression Sonny used to imitate Kill Joy and his elongated version of saying a simple: thank you. "Tight wad. If he only knew what we had to do."

"He's years removed from battle, he's probably forgotten how to even operate in a mad minute."

"Yeah…we had plenty of mad minutes."

"They all go okay?"

"Sure. I guess."

"Something happen like with Ray?"

"Worse."

'Oh. Now we're getting somewhere' are the next thoughts in Davis' head, but she doesn't say them out loud.

They were all involved in the inquiry into Ray's frag missing the sniper and accidentally falling short, killing a little boy during a family celebration. Davis was racking her brain, trying to think of every scenario that could be worse than what Ray went through. Sonny was more than a little high strung on deployment, but he always, ALWAYS knew when to fire and when to hold. He was a little bit of an aggressor, but he knew when to hold back and when to let loose. He wasn't a loose cannon in any sense of the word.

"Was ISR involved?" Maybe it was best if she set the scene first. To give her a better picture and to help him ease into the incident.

"Not the entire time," he gets off the couch and opens her fridge, taking a chilled six pack from the shelf before sitting back down and setting the six pack down next to his hand gun. "Sketchy civilian intel we wanted to sit on, but Kill Joy and his other cake eating friends wanted to run with it. So we ran with it."

"Was it useless?"

"No it was useful, but the intel forgot to mention the HVT had underground tunnels that could've run to fucking Virginia Beach they were so long and intricate." She bites her tongue to stop from saying that dreaded tired line of: "Oh I'm so sorry. Oh how terrible! You poor thing!"

"Did you breach?"

"After a drone strike. Helo dropped us five klicks away and we double timed it to the compound."

"Guessing he was gone?"

"Down one of the tunnels, but not before engaging us in a mad minute. I jumped first, then Mike and we found a pretty heavy blood trail, but he was gone. Made it easy to find him a day later, hiding in a basement with a bodyguard who was also bleeding all over himself." She's so engrossed in what Sonny was saying, she has to do a double take when it looks like three of the six beers were already done and they were.

"It took the nearly the entire six months, but you guys did it."

"I don't care about how long it took." She waits for him to finish the fourth beer and twist the cap off the fifth one, even though the caps aren't twist off. "When Mike and I made it back up to what was left of the house, we heard someone screaming for help." Instead of saying meaningless sympathies, she wraps her arms around his right arm and kisses his temple. "We used the butt of our guns, hands, legs, whatever we could to lift the concrete and there she was."

"A kid?"

"Really little kid. Couldn't be more than five. She looked down at the hole in her stomach and then up at me and my rifle with this…this look in her eyes."

"Sonn…" her heart and her voice are breaking at the same time. "Was the bullet from your gun?" Normally she would stay quiet and let him keep talking, but she couldn't read the look on his face.

"I couldn't sleep after, just stayed up all day and night staring into the fire pit." Whether he's consciously ignoring her question or truthfully unsure of the answer, it's not lost on her that he doesn't answer the question. "There was this contractor I met on the C-130 and it was her second time going to Afghanistan. We would always laugh and joke around, but that night she could tell something was wrong. When I didn't say anything she said we didn't have to talk if I didn't want to and we didn't. She just grabbed my hand and leaned in…" Sonny stops and looks Davis in the eyes. He takes a deep inhale, but waits for her to communicate whether he should continue or not.

If it were possible to hear your heart and soul breaking, Davis now knew what that sounded like.

"And? What did you do?"

A/N: You guys are wonderful; the enthusiasm you're showing this story has me forever grateful. I know it may sound repetitive, but thank you for each review, follow and favorite, it means the world *virtual hugs all around* I'm ready to hear what you think about this chapter :)


	8. Chapter 8

"She whispered in my ear to meet me in her trailer in ten." Another long pause that has her worst fears coming true. "And I did."

When people talk about an out of body experience they always say its a matter of not believing what's right in from of you. Davis heard every word. She could count the seconds between each breath Sonny took. She noted his posture, the raised shoulders, shaking left foot and hands he had to keep busy, the beer cans providing the busy-ness. She smelled the fresh no longer dusty deployment scent that greeted her at her door when he was begging to be let in. All of this she could pin point, she could see it and smell it, but she couldn't believe it. And she remembered in vivid detail when he said he didn't do anything, but now she was wondering what "anything" constituted. Maybe they didn't have sex, but did Sonny and this contractor bitch make out like there was no tomorrow?

"When I got there I…"

"Stop talking for a second." She needed a second…or fifty…to gather herself.

"I'm…"

"I just need a minute." Sonny obliges and keeps quiet. He puts his beer on the coffee table and shifts on the couch so he's facing her and not the tv. She pulls her knees to the chest and leans her head to the side on the back cushion. His words were hurting more than the harshest words you could have hurled against the ears, the hardest kick to the gut and the cruelest stab to the heart.

"What happened?" She was torn as to whether she really wanted to know, but the words left her mouth before she could stop herself.

_"__Hey, I didn't think you'd come."_

_"__Why do you say that?"_

_"__I said meet me in ten. It's after one."_

_"__Sorry. I wasn't sure if I should come."_

_"__Are you gonna come in or keep standing out there?"_

_"__I don't know yet."_

_"__Get in here." Amber stands aside and leaves ample room for him to walk in. He looks down at his feet, but they won't move. A moment later she puts her hand in his pocket and pulls him inside. He stands against the wall, needing its sturdy support. His eyes fall on the yoga pants and a sports bra she's wearing and watches as she pats the side of her bed, inviting him to take a seat too._

_"__I…I have a girlfriend."_

_"__I have a boyfriend."_

_"__He's cool with you…"_

_"__Everybody needs a coping mechanism right?" She shrugs her shoulders and leans back on her elbows. _

_"__Yeah I know what you mean." He shifts the weight on his feet and looks around, trying to avoid looking at her as much as possible._

_"__So what's yours?"_

_"__It would be this, but now I have…"_

_"__A girlfriend. Yeah, you said that already."_

_"__Sorry, it's just I've never done this before."_

_"__Are you serious?"_

_"__Yeah, why're you so surprised?"_

_"__I've never met a team guy so…"_

_"__So what?"_

_"__Loyal. Makes you even more irresistible." He smiles down at the ground and adjusts his cap._

_"__Thanks I guess." _

_"__Sonny, I would never tell. You know that right?"_

_"__Yeah I know."_

_"__We're relatively safe here, but you can't tell me you're not scared."_

_"__I'm a Navy Seal."_

_"__Excuse me, I forgot. Navy Seals don't get scared right?"_

_"__No, I just don't let it stop me."_

_"__So your girl back home is stopping you now?"_

_"__You could say that."_

_"__How about a drink? It'll loosen you up."_

_"__What do you have?"_

_"__Whiskey." His favorite._

_"__Just one shot."_

_"__There's that smile I haven't seen in a while." He watches her rummage in the corner of the room for her secret stash, "can you get two shot glasses from the top shelf over there?"_

_"__Sure." _

_When his feet are back flush against the ground and he turns around, Amber's right there. He has to thank his Seal Training for the quick reflexes that allow him to fling his head back in time to prevent their lips from accidentally meeting._

_"__You okay?" She's got a smile on her face from ear to ear and runs both hands through her hair, purposefully putting her chest front and center, so his eyes can't miss them even if he tried._

_"__I have a tendency to get claustrophobic."_

_"__Drink." Amber pours a generous amount out and raises the glass to his lips. "You're so tense."_

_They both take shots, but his does nothing to help him relax. When she turns to walk back to her bed, he leans against the desk and tries not to think. Not think about the raid Romeo just did. Not think about how their HVT seemingly survived the drone strike. Not think about the little girl he thinks he may have shot. Not think about Amber and what she's suggesting they do. Not think about Kill Joy. Not think about his brothers back home. _

_Not think about Davis, even though she's been the only thing on his mind since his feet touched the C-130._

_"__Sonny, you still with me?" Her head is tilted to the side and her eyebrows knit._

_"__Yeah."_

_"__Come sit."_

_"__Amber if we…"_

_"__Don't you want to?"_

_"__Yeah…"_

_"__So, let's do…"_

_"…__but not with you."_

_"__What?"_

_"__This last assignment failed and I feel like shit, but I'll feel even worse if I break my girlfriend's heart."_

_"__She doesn't have to know. We could just…" she gets off the bed and walks over like a model on a runway. "…forget everything and have it just be us for a few hours. It's not like we're married to our significant others." He steps back until there isn't any more room and she steps forward until they're sharing the same breathing air. "Your girlfriend isn't here, but I'am. My boyfriend isn't here, but you are. Let's just be there for each other okay?"_

_"__We can't…"_

_"__Shhh, it's alright. No one's ever gonna know. I promise." She whispers in his ear so soft, he was focusing more on comprehending what she said it took him a minute to realize where her hands were. One hand was on his belt buckle, her fingers taking their sweet time loosening it up and the other was under his t-shirt, running the length of his ribcage scar. He didn't let out his usual giggle or smile at the feeling of a hand brushing against it though. Quicker than he thought humanely possible, he raised his hands and kept her literally at arms length. _

_"__What's wrong?"_

_"__You're right. I'am loyal. I can't do this."_

_"__Would you relax? Don't you wanna just forget everything for a few hours? This isn't a big deal. This girl you have at home, she's just a girl." _

_That's all it took._

_—_

"I left her trailer after she said that. I heard her calling me back, but I kept walking. I walked until sunrise. I did get back to the hooch just before Mike woke up, but I had to clear my head. I swear that's all that's happened and I do feel sorry about it. Nothing, absolutely nothing happened with her, but I _felt_ like I cheated. That little girl just got me screwed up and I almost lost it, but hurting you would've hurt more. You're not "just some girl" to me."

Davis kept her eyes closed as Sonny confessed. She wanted to picture things in her head as he spoke, like how they build replicas of compounds or container ships when figuring out the best way to execute on a mission. This time, she hated the images in her head. It wasn't as bad as she first imagined and as explicit as the lies he told the guys, but there sure as hell were a lot of close calls in the story he just told.

Maybe one too many she couldn't handle.

She was glad he didn't do anything, he didn't even kiss stupid Amber, but still. Still, she was feeling something. If she had more girlfriends she could tell Sonny something like: "thanks for telling me the truth, but I need some time" and go talk it over with them with wine and a girl power show like _Sex and the City, _but she didn't have that. Before the fire, she, Ronny and Michelle were on the track to stay close sisters and become best friends, but then the fire happened. She couldn't save Michelle, her mom blamed her and so Ronny blamed her and she lost that female camaraderie seemingly forever. She was used to hanging out with the guys, but now wouldn't be so bad to have some girlfriends around. They could share if they had similar experiences and offer their thoughts. They could offer different view points and let her know if she was better than this. They could keep her spirits up or let her cry and offer nothing, but encouraging words and tissues. And chocolate. They could also complicate her emotions and tell her to break up with Sonny and not give him a second thought.

This was confusing and starting to feel a little too all consuming.

Naima made this life seem so effortless. They all, Davis including herself, always appreciated Naima for not only keeping her and Ray's family together, but Jason's too. She was like a therapist for Trent and Brock and a mom to Clay and Sonny. Whenever they were alone, Naima would always check in with her on a personal level. The way after coming home after a spin up, her first question would always be:

"How're you doing after taking care of these guys?"

Davis would always do her best and check in with her too. When this last deployment it looked like Ray was slipping back into old habits, she constantly checked in and tried her best to reassure Naima everything was alright and that Ray would come home as the Ray she fell in love with.

"Are you okay?"

Her eyes jet open and meet Sonny's. He's got a hand on her raised knee and his head leaning against the back cushion like her.

"Yeah."

"No you're not. Come on, tell me the truth."

"I'm okay, really." That word again. If she never heard 'okay' again for a hundred years it would still be too soon. "Just a lot to take in."

"Anything I can do?"

"No nothing. I'm just relieved."

"Really?" He smiles and leans in closer.

"Yeah. I need a minute to let it all sink in."

"I walked around until sunrise which was a good six hours away. You don't realize how big a military base is until you walk the full length back and forth."

"I may do some cardio on base tomorrow."

"Cardio huh?" He raises and eyebrow and she smiles at him, but it quickly fades.

"Yeah, a lap or ten around the exercise block. Not the kind you're thinking of."

"Damn. The kind I was thinking of was a hell of a lot more entertaining."

The automatic timer Davis has her coffee set to begins to churn and release the smell of ground coffee. She looks over her shoulder as the sun begins to rise and the neighborhood awakens outside.

"We need to get some sleep."

"Yeah, I feel like I haven't slept since I got off the plane." Sonny takes one of the throw pillows and puts it behind his head and neck, inviting her to use him as a pillow. His posture is much more relaxed and she can tell she isn't the only one whose relieved. She hesitates and he holds both his palms out. When their hands connect and clasp together, he kisses the back of hers before letting go and allowing them both to get comfortable.

Sonny didn't do anything, but she couldn't figure out why she still felt strange about it. He was telling the truth, that she knew for sure, she could tell in his voice, but still. There was the credit she had to give him for leaving on his own accord and not for some other reason, but he also went there on his own accord. He said they almost kissed and that he pulled back, but what if they had kissed? She wanted to say it was okay, mean it and move on, but she couldn't. She didn't want to seem too okay with things because what would happen next time they were separated? The next time Sonny had a hard call to make on a mission or things went sideways and a civilian was injured or killed and she wasn't there? There's only so many close calls you can have before you can't dodge them anymore.

And what about the civilian?! The little girl he may or may not have killed? Is an investigation being performed? Does the Brass care? Kill Joy and his other cake eating friends know? Are they calling the entire mission a win and the losses "acceptable?" Did she have any family that can speak on her behalf? Who was she besides a little girl caught in the wrong place at the wrong time?

And now there were the rest of the guys to think about. Sonny, like all Seals, knew the Navy Seal Creed by heart and in it is the line: my word is my bond. It was probably, arguably, the five most important words to Jason Hayes. They all learned in Green Team the first and most important rule is to never lie to your team leader. It was well known Jace didn't tolerate lying and had a consistent track record of punishing team members who lied to him.

No one knew about her and Sonny and they both liked/ needed things to stay that way, but now she could admit it was getting a little overwhelming. This deployment was overwhelming, Sonny's confession was overwhelming, the threat of getting caught and reprimanded by UCMJ was overwhelming. It wasn't a feeling she felt very often, but Davis was starting to feel defeated.

"Hey, you alright? I can feel your heart practically beating out of your chest." His voice was gravely and laced with sleep.

She has yet to close her eyes.

Clay doesn't know it's her, but Davis has to admit that maybe he's half right when he said Sonny's girlfriend couldn't handle Navy Seal life. She could handle Navy Seal life being single, maybe what she couldn't handle was life with a Navy Seal boyfriend.

"I'm okay."

A/N: Guys, your reviews :) I can't express how much they make me smile, strive to be a better writer and warm my heart. I hope you all survived in waiting for this one lol I know its a little bit of a wait between chapters, but I always want to make sure it's my best before I upload. You guys deserve it :) And yes, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter and what's going to happen next.


	9. Chapter 9

Sonny's been back for a week and she's been trying to keep up a good front, but Davis knew she was falling apart. Their relationship wasn't the same as before he left and she had no idea how to get it back to the way it was before. He either noticed the change too and was ignoring it or he didn't see the change and thought they were back and perfectly happy. She couldn't get Amber out of her head. She couldn't get that little girl out of her head. It was scaring her a little that Sonny was a little too normal. In the past week he's grabbed drinks with the guys, made sure he found time to have dinner with her, cleaned up his cage and his apartment and she even caught him shaking hands with Kill Joy.

The behavior wasn't "hit the panic button" troublesome and Davis couldn't put her finger on it, but he wasn't Sonny. She knew he may come back from Afghanistan a little different, she'd seen it on all kinds of team guys. It wasn't something you could explain or define, just the way they would look, little things they would say, mannerisms, even characteristics like touch and smell were different. Before she and Sonny got together and as close as they were as friends, she never actually went to his place post deployment to hang out. After avenging Echo and going to the hospital to see Danny, she dropped him home. After Mexico they met at the bar, but they both went back to their own places after. She could wonder all day long if this was Sonny's way of decompressing after a mission, but she could never get a straight answer. He was being so careful with his words lately and that was her biggest clue something was off. Sonny Quinn never holds back, especially with his mouth. The guys may have noticed something was off too, but they weren't saying anything either. She had to do something to get things back on track, but that was the hard part. She didn't know what to say or what to do and she _always_ knew what to do and what to say.

Early Sunday morning, she woke up alone with Sonny and his motorcycle keys missing. Waking up alone wasn't much different from waking up and feeling him next to her though. Before texting him and asking what's up, she pulls her knees to her chest and buries her head. This wasn't working and she couldn't for the life of her figure out why. The majority of her life was the Navy, ISR, Bravo and now life as an Officer, dating Sonny shouldn't be as difficult as it was becoming. She takes her phone from her bedside table and opens the text from Sonny that was delivered forty minutes ago. It was only seven in the morning. Davis ticks trouble sleeping off the long list of things wrong with Sonny since coming home.

"Gone for a ride. Back later." Is what he wrote with a picture of the dawn sky, his bike handles and an upside down smiley face.

This was only getting worse.

Despite knowing better, Davis calls his phone and holds out hope there's a chance he picks up. To her surprise, he does.

"Morning babe!" He doesn't sound as terrible as she was expecting. Wherever he's riding off too, it's somewhere fast.

"Morning, did you sleep at all?"

"Of course I did! Don't worry about me."

"I'm not worried, I just love you."

"I love you too." Davis can hear the rev of the engine and the screech Sonny's tires are making around what she can only guess are sharp turns at a high rate of speed.

"Just be careful."

"You know me." Sonny's the one who initiates the end of the call and soon there's nothing, but silence at Davis' apartment.

First it was Danny. She knew he was having trouble with civilian life and in order to cope his drug use went from once in a while to occasional to more frequently until he was doing it everyday. The nurses in the VA had quietly shown her the photos responding officers took. She never told anyone and as far as she knew, only she and Sonny knew, but Danny was technically dead when the officers responded. He had no pulse. Fortunately one of the responding officers had Narcan and administered it to Danny almost immediately. The nurse who showed her Danny's file, Ann, said it was becoming a regular thing to see team guys self-destructing. The officer who administered Narcan to Danny wrote in his report that Danny was his third overdose that night.

These weren't like the movies, this wasn't Hollywood drama that tries to get it as realistic as possible. This wasn't like the movies _The Hurt Locker _or _Brothers _that we're fairly accurate in their portrayal of military life, but still just movies. This was real life and Davis could tell Sonny was self destructing. The lack of sleep, increase of alcohol consumption, "need for speed" he was achieving with his bike, it was happening all over again. The good news though, was that there was always a moment. A cut off point where everyone becomes hyper self-aware and gains some kind of clarity before going past the point of no return. Sonny hadn't reached that point yet and unfortunately, it usually took forever before the person got there.

Until that time, she did what her military training engrained in her, she carried on. Not being able to tell anyone about her relationship was becoming too much and even if she had to lie to cover, she was going to start talking. She didn't just want to brag about how happy she was overall or scared out of her mind she was that something really bad was going to happen to Sonny, she just wanted to talk. Confide in someone how terrible and awesome Navy life was. After getting out of bed and getting ready, she knew exactly who she wanted to talk to.

"Lisa! Hey, come in. Everything okay?"

"Hey Naima. Yeah everything's fine, thanks."

"How're you doing? Belated congratulations on becoming an officer."

"Thank you, I'm alright. Ray around?"

"At Jason's. Said Mikey came home for the weekend and he wanted to see him, but I know he and Jason are trying to hack into NYU's cameras to find Emma."

"Sounds about right."

"Need him for something important?"

"No, no nothing like that. I actually came to talk to you."

"Me? This must be life or death with Bravo or something personal. Come on, let's go to the kitchen." Naima starts the coffee and puts out enough cookies and little desserts to feed a small country. "This is my stash, not even Ray knows about it. You can't tell him anything about it."

"You have my word."

"So what's going on?"

"I don't have a lot of girlfriends, but the ones I do have always come to me needing relationship advice…asking me to help them get into the mindset of team guys and…"

"…you think I'm the resident expert being that I'm married to and have a family with a team guy?"

"Yeah, is that terrible?"

"Of course not. I like being thought of as an expert." They both smile and Naima gets up to pour out the coffee that's ready. "Who's the girlfriend asking?"

"I don't think you know her. I met her at OCS, Nicole Jones. She's got this thing going with a team guy and she says it's going well, but she's having a hard time coping when he spins up."

"That's the worst."

"Scared they might not come back?"

"Believe it or not, no. That's one of the first things you make peace with as their girlfriend or wife. It's the other stuff."

"Like what?"

"What the United States is asking of them. The kinds of decisions they'll have to make in the field. The kinds of people they run into, friendly or hostile, that leaves an impression. The pile up of physical and mental bruises, constant high alert, the life they're thinking about back home just enough so they miss it, but not enough to where the get distracted. Will they be able to talk about it, get it off their chest. You think of every scenario possible no matter how improbable."

"How did you and Ray deal the first few times he was deployed?"

"I think he focused on coming home and I focused on trying to understand what he was going through. There's no manual on how to deal with this kind of life."

"Very true."

"Have they slept together yet?" The sip of coffee Davis was in the middle of drinking went down hard and had her coughing for a good minute before she stopped.

"What?"

"You heard the question," Naima's got a devious smile on her face and it makes Davis giggle like a schoolgirl.

"I like this side of you Mrs. Perry."

"Me too."

"To answer your question, no I don't think they have."

"At all or since his spin ups?"

"No I'm sure they've done it, just not since his spin ups and returns home."

"Oh well, they've gotta get over that hurdle too."

"Makes a difference?"

"Okay picture the best sex you've ever had." That was easy to imagine, Sonny immediately popped into her head. "Got it in your head?"

"Yeah."

"Now magnify that by a thousand."

"You're insane," Davis tries to keep a straight face, but her words come out in between giggles.

"I'm in love and trust me, there's nothing like reconnecting post deployment. Nothing."

"Good to know."

"Listen, in all seriousness, tell your friend it's important. It can be awkward at first, not for reasons you're thinking of, but because he may look, feel and act like a different person. Maybe the guy that left and the guy that came back are two separate people, but she's gotta find the commonality. There's always something there. Maybe it's something he always says, something he did pre deploying that he's doing again now that he's back home, something. She'll have to play a little bit of a detective, but I'm sure she'll find something." Davis had to admit that was actually pretty sound advice.

"I'll tell her that. You're pretty excellent at this, you can teach a course and charge a ton of money."

"Ha! I'll give it some thought if I ever get tired of the hospital."

"I can tell you the names of your first five students."

"You've never reconnected with a te…"

"It's against the rules."

"Right," Naima takes a sip from her mug before continuing. "I don't know if that would stop me." Davis laughs out loud at her admission, this entire conversation was uncharted territory for her, but she was enjoying herself. She made a mental note to make more time for these. She loved team guys, Bravo and she loved Sonny, but this was a breath of fresh air. It wasn't "written in stone" that these kinds of conversations would never happen, but right now she and Ronny were missing out on having girl talk like this. She _accidentally _found out she had a niece and it wasn't even from Ronny. Instead of dwelling on those depressing thoughts, she focused on the girlfriend-ship she could form with Naima. "So you have to tell me something."

"Sure, what's up?"

"How long have you and Sonny been dating?"

"What? I…" Sonny's face popping up on her phone cuts her off before she can hopefully convince Naima nothing is going on between them even though it would be a giant lie. "Hey, can I call you back in five?" No clear response. "Sonny?" Nothing. Naima knits her brow and looks over at her, her facial expressions asking questions Davis doesn't have the answers too, yet.

"Sonny are you okay?" Maybe he did hit the point of return faster than she thought possible.

A/N: I hate writer's block as much as Sonny hates water, sharks, horses and all jungle creatures. I knew what I wanted to say, just didn't have the words to say it. Rewatching old episodes did the trick and has me even more excited for season three LOL Thanks for your patience and for checking in—the messages were incredibly sweet. Don't worry, I would never leave a story incomplete. Any reviews about the this chapter, I'd really appreciate :)


	10. Chapter 10

"Is everything okay?" Davis barely hears Naima over the invasion of terrible thoughts and scenarios running through her head.

"Are the kids home?"

"No they're in school and daycare. What's up?"

"Can you ride with me?" She grabs her jacket, wallet and heads to the table for her keys. Naima is close behind, grabbing her stuff and putting her shoes on.

"Yeah of course. Where we going?"

"I think I know where he is. I'm gonna need you to drive my car back."

"You can ride?"

"Sonny was teaching me. I think I can manage."

By the time she and Naima get on the road, Davis' call with Sonny was going for six and half minutes. Six and a half minutes of silence with no sound coming from the other end. She didn't hang up on the off chance Sonny said something, explained what was going on or made any kind of noise.

"How much further until we reach him?"

"Less than five minutes. I just hope he's there."

"Sonny's a creature of habit. If you think he's there, I'm sure he's there." A few minutes later, with the silent phone call now showing eleven minutes and twenty-eight seconds, the car slows considerably. "Something wrong?"

"No it's around here. Look out and let me know if you see his bike or tire treads anywhere." It takes another two minutes before Davis spots his bike and veers in its direction. With the car still running, but in park she sprints out and Naima isn't far behind. "Sonny? Sonny, can you hear me?" Her eyes notice everything, including the lack of alcohol on his breath which she's infinitely thankful for and lack of drag marks.

"Let me try something." Naima ran back to the trunk and took alcohol swabs and a water bottle from the first aid bag that had permanent residence in Davis's car. She kneels down and says a quick and silent prayer, hoping the alcohol right under his nose will be enough to revive him. "Hey, welcome back." When Davis sees him blinking, his chest rising and falling, she's breathes again, aware of the the fact she was quickly loosing control of her emotions, but that Naima was still around. "Slowly Sonny, sit up slowly."

"I'm alright."

"What hap…"

"Let's get back first. Let's get outta here and get Sonny looked after. Let's go, let's get…" For someone whose seen so much and made unimaginably difficult calls with little time to prepare, Davis couldn't stop the rambling in her voice, shakiness in her palms and few tears that sneaked through and fell.

Even though that was all the confirmation Naima needed, now wasn't the time for teasing and cracking jokes. She had to look after Sonny, make sure nothing else was medically wrong and something told her Lisa needed her too. Plus, Davis did have a point. There would be time later for Sonny to explain what happened, now they should get back and take of him and each other.

"Take one more sip and then stand up slowly."

"Yes Captain."

"At least you still have your sense of humor." Naima continually steals glances at Davis, making sure she doesn't create a situation where she'll end up with two patients instead of just the one. "Up on your feet."

"I'm fine."

"I'll be the judge of that. In the car, let's go." Halfway there, Davis snaps out of it and catches up to them, putting her arms around his waist, helping to carry his weight. This was as close as they've gotten since he's been back and it has her surprised and thinking back to her conversation with Naima about reconnecting post-deployment. While she was dying to reconnect with Sonny, there were things they had to talk about first. After ten years of friendship, she knew every side of Sonny, but this was new to her, as his friend and his girlfriend.

"The bike looks okay to ride back to his place. I'll meet you there."

"Sounds good. Hey!" Naima picks up Sonny's helmet and holds it out. "We don't need another accident."

"Yeah, right, of course." Davis meets her halfway and notices the slight indentation on the side, towards the back.

"Don't worry." Naima whispers in her ear as she hands the helmet over.

"I'm trying not too."

"That's not what I mean. Don't worry, you're built for this life."

"What…"

"The other side of military life. The other side of spin ups, Command, ISR, AAR's and debriefings. The loving someone serving side of military life." Naima jogs back to Davis' car before she has a chance to refute or ask more questions.

Outside of not crashing, that was the only though in Davis' head during the drive to Sonny's place. She thought it was nice that Naima had that much confidence in her, but she wasn't so sure. Ask her to expedite a spin up like after Echo team was ambushed and Bravo's deployment was pushed up, she could do it in her sleep. Ask her to pilot a drone over restricted air space and not get caught, no problem. Ask her to bend the rules so the guys can move forward on a mission without twitchy allies and their lack of faith pulling the plug at the slightest deviation from their plan, come on, give her a real challenge. As crazy as it sounds, these were things she could handle. Believing in herself that she and Sonny could do this, really stay a strong and committed couple gave her more doubts that she ever knew she had.

It wasn't until she pulled up to his apartment, put his bike in park and removed his helmet did she see the picture of her he had inside. If nothing else, there's one, maybe two ways team guys show the way they care. If they're the not-so-good with words, like Sonny, they express themselves other ways. Putting your picture in their helmet is one of those ways you know you're important to them. She had no proof, but still she knew if Sonny could have, he would put her picture in his combat helmet, but they couldn't take that kind of risk yet.

Inside his place, Naima got to work checking his vitals, his pupils and reflexes. Davis made herself small, unsure of what to do with Naima focusing on Sonny and his place oddly clean, there was nothing to keep her busy and pass the time. Before she leaves the kitchen her eyes notice the pen and paper with a note Sonny wrote something down on. There was no name or explanation, just an address and time: 'Right off Main Street, Saturday 10am.'

"Someone's looking after you Sonny."

"So I'm okay?"

"No, I said you're you. Were you ever really okay even before this little bicycle accident?" She's behind her, but Lisa doesn't have to see Naima's face to see the smirk on it.

"Oh God, is a sermon about to begin?"

"The invitation to join Ray and I is always open."

"Yeah, I know. Thanks, but I keep Jesus in a bottle on the counter or in a can in the fridge."

"He's all yours Lisa." Naima gathers her stuff and heads to the door with Lisa's car keys. "Mind if I borrow?"

"Not at all. I'll swing by later."

"Thanks." On her way out the door, Naima gives a wink and hold an imaginary phone to her ear, whispering for Davis to call later so they can talk more in depth. As a response, Davis smiles and gives a thumbs up. "Feel better Sonny."

"So what happened?" She takes a seat next to him on the couch, with one knee raised, using it to rest her chin on.

"I don't wanna get into it."

"Are you serious? That's your answer?"

"I don't wanna get into it now. Please and thank you. Is that better?"

"Sarcasm. Real funny."

"I try to be."

"Come on Sonny, there's a reason you called me and it was for more than a ride back."

"I just wanted to hear your voice, make sure you were okay. It's no big deal."

"Why? Were you thinking about something? About the girl that got shot?"

"Don't go there. Jesus why do you have to go there?"

"Because you can pretend like it was "just war" and "no big deal," but I know you. Her death really affected you."

"I'll get over it."

"Not without help."

"I'll be fine."

"What happened in Afghanistan?" This felt like deja vu all over again. Last time she went down this path, she was positive her heart would break from what she thought would be from Sonny's infidelity, but this time she had no idea what to expect from his answer.

"What happened with Dan?"

"What? Dan who?"

"Bar Dan. The cake eater who tried setting you up in front of me."

"Watts? From OCS?! Sonny come on, you can't…"

"You seem able to handle being away from me so well, I just thought…"

"That I cheated?"

"I never said that."

"You didn't have too." She springs off the couch, gathering her stuff along the way.

"Da…Lisa I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"I'm gonna go. I think we both need some air."

"Naima has your car remember?"

"I'll walk, it's fine."

"Take my bike at least."

"No, it's yours. I don't wanna take what's yours."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said…I know…"

"I don't think this is gonna work."

"Don't say that."

"Do you not see us lately? This isn't working."

"Only because we're here, but not really here. I mean how long have I been back and we made time to be with each other?"

"I don't know."

"I'm trying to give you your space because I think that's what you want, but then you do or say something that makes me think the opposite and then I'm just left completely confused. I don't exactly know what I'm doing and I can't go to Jace or Ray then they'll know something's up, but I'm trying my best to act the way I think they'd act in these situations. And seeing you wrap your arms around that cake eater, I know you were just being friendly, but damn that hurt and after running from Amber, I already felt like crap, seeing you do that was something I…"

This was it. Rambling Sonny. Naima's advice about finding the thing that bridges pre and post deployment Sonny rings in her ears and she has to smile. Not only did that woman know her stuff, but she was one-hundred percent right. Sonny was different in a lot of ways, but he was still rambling, unsure of himself in a relationship and most importantly, still in love with her. She could've walked out of his apartment and left and he probably wouldn't have noticed. He's just beginning to fumble around his living room, a steady pace back and forth forming on the floor, his hands doing double duty holding his hat and running through his hair. He was endlessly lovable. Before he runs out of oxygen, faints and she has to call Naima again, she puts her things back down and does the one thing that when she thinks hard, she and Sonny haven't done since his safe return home.

There were "miss you" kinds of kisses, "glad you're back" kind of kisses and then mind-blowing, Earth shattering kinds of kisses where you forget your name and how to breathe. Even this kiss was better than that.

A/N: Anyone else obsessed with the two-second #Savis moment we got in the new promo? LOL Thanks for staying so passionate with this story, any and all reviews are always welcome :)


	11. Chapter 11

It may have been the lack of oxygen combined with Naima's words about reconnecting, but either way, Davis couldn't help the giggles. Somehow, she ended up off her feet and in Sonny's arms and felt more giddy than tween girls meeting their boy band idols. If Sonny wasn't having trouble keeping their positions she wasn't going to hold back. She turned his cap backwards and purposefully kept her hands running towards the back of his head, forcing his lips to stay practically glued to hers. Adding to the uncontrollable giggles and giddiness, Sonny didn't stay still.

"Your bedroom is the other way remember?"

"Supplies first."

"What supplies?" Sonny doesn't answer, just continues to his kitchen and before he opens the door, shimmies Davis around so he's essentially giving her a piggy back ride. "Whatever you're looking for…" there was one other thing she remembered from his time overseas that she knew would make him feel even better. She found that spot behind his ear that made a tickle run down his spine and made him loose control of himself and lowered her voice as he requested months ago, "…hurry up _senior chief Quinn._" With that, his head snaps up and he slams the door closed. Similar to what she did earlier keeping them in close proximity, this time, Sonny spins them around and presses her against the fridge, once again limiting their personal space. She was pretty much pinned, but she wasn't complaining. She liked this. Correction, she loved this. She loved Sonny. She allows him to adjust her legs, wrapping them tighter around his waist if that was even possible and finally allowing her to see what he grabbed from the fridge: strawberries. And this time he got a can of whip cream too. Just as they begin to move, both of their phones ring. Naima's face pops up on hers phone, Clay on his.

"Should we…" Sonny ignores the phones and keeps walking. That was the only answer she needed. Nothing was going to get in the way of the infinite hours they needed to reconnect.

—

When Davis and Naima left to get Sonny it was only nine o'clock in the morning. The sun was rising, the air was a little chilly and she and Sonny were both sober. Now it was later. Much later.

Unexpected events keep ruining their reunions, but the last few hours made up for the twelve weeks she was gone for OCS, last six months Sonny was in Afghanistan, their rocky reunion, Amber, Dan and then some. This was the fun part, the silver lining, in all the terrible things that come along with falling for someone who lives the kind of life she and Sonny do. Homecoming.

This was neither of their first times, but it was her first time being with someone this fresh from deployment. Now she could see the difference, the appeal and why it was so addicting. Team guys weren't the only ones who loved "reconnecting" after coming home, they just liked talking about it more. Female personnel were just as excited, they just kept it to themselves. This side of Sonny she never experienced before and she was glad he abstained on deployment. He stayed faithful which she loved and appreciated, but more than that, now he had all the stamina in the world and she got to reap all the benefits. She wasn't expecting Sonny to pick her up, she wasn't expecting him to keep their lips locked so long even she surprised herself pulling him back neglecting the fact they had to break away to breathe and she wasn't expecting him to get so adventurous and creative with their supplies. She wasn't expecting him to like how almost painfully tight her legs wrapped around his hips and slow pace they started out with. Soon enough though, she found out why post deployment was like a drug you could never get enough of. There was nothing better. Sonny was…there were no words to describe how much endurance he had. She knew how spectacular he was, but now, this was glorious uncharted territory. She would never do it in seriousness, but in times like this, she would marry him just for the sex alone.

What time she fell asleep Davis had no idea, but the shaking and whizzing sound coming from above her head woke her up.

"Morning Sleeping Beauty."

"What time is it?"

"Late. Almost midnight."

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Long. Like a lot of other things…" before he continues she elbows him in the ribs and they both laugh.

"Get your mind outtta the gutter, it always leads to trouble." As a response, Sonny shakes the can of whip cream again and holds the nozzle to her lips.

"More trouble just means more fun." She watches him take another handful of strawberries from the beside table and flick them off his thumb and catch them with his tongue. His lips are essentially stained red and when she looks up, she sees his cowboy hat, hanging off his headboard and instantly smiles.

—

Sunrise wasn't the only thing up early. Davis was even surprising herself, but to be fair this was a first for her and for Sonny. Neither of them had experience handling a long distance relationship and coming back together after such a long time apart. Now though, after all these hours being with Sonny, she couldn't even remember what's-his-name from OCS or what's-her-name that tried to get Sonny to cheat in Afghanistan.

"Hey Cowboy, you still alive?" She repositions herself onto her side so she can use her hand as a brace. They were both ridiculously sweaty, covered in dried sugar and in complete euphoria. She looks in his direction and the way his chest is still rising and falling pretty heavily and how his eyes are still closed.

"I'm not sure."

"Rack out. You may be called to attention sooner than you think."

"Yes m'am." Sonny releases a breathy, sleep-laced laugh and falls further into the mattress. Davis waits the two minutes it takes for him to fall into a deep sleep before grabbing his shirt from the floor and getting out of bed. She walks back to the kitchen counter and makes sure they were no official messages and requests for her presence somewhere at a particular time. Thankfully, it was all clear from an official Navy standpoint, but there were messages of every kind from Naima. She puts the voicemail messages on speaker as she rummages the fridge for food. The last time she was at the fridge, she was preoccupied with other things.

"Don't let me interrupt you, just wanted to check in, make sure Sonny's head was okay. Well, not okay, but that he's still Sonny. Call me back in a hour or two." That message was left around two in the afternoon.

"Damn, still busy huh? Don't forget to hydrate and call me back sometime this century." Around nine at night.

"Alright this is inhuman, I don't care who you're talking about and how long you've been apart. You better call me back the second you get this and give me every detail or I'm going to bed angry…angry and a little jealous." One in the morning. That last voicemail made Davis laugh out loud. She grabbed a slice of pizza from the box Sonny had in the fridge and just as she pressed redial on Naima's number, her face popped up again, giving the option to accept or decline the call.

"Hey, I was just calling you!"

"Please tell me you're not still there."

"Relax, I'll tell the whole story, but you can't…"

"Hide now. You don't have time to get out without the guys catching you."

"What?"

"Clay's on his way with Ray and Jason."

"What?"

"Clay left a case at his place or something and J and Ray are coming along for the ride. Hide now. Seriously, they'll be there any second, especially if Clay's driving. Don't hang up, just let me know when you're good."

The kitchen and living room were full of her clothes and the trail to the bedroom was so obvious it was like a lit runway directing airplane traffic, but she didn't have time to pick things up. She kept her phone in the palm of her hand and after she ran past the front door, she could hear voices from down the hall. To buy a few extra seconds, she locked the door and hoped one of the guys didn't have a key and if they did, hopefully it would take them a few minutes to find it and open the door. When she finally makes it to the bedroom, Jason's voice echoes.

"Rise and shine Quinn."

As much of a hurry she was in, she did take two seconds to acknowledge how delicious Sonny looked. His bed head was all over the place, he was glistening thanks to the sweat and sunshine from his bedroom window and the sheet was crazy low on his waist.

"Where is he?" That was Clay's voice.

"Probably still sleeping." Ray. Davis was thankful all of Bravo wasn't here otherwise she'd be in even more trouble.

"I'll go wake him up."

"I wouldn't do that Clay. Whatever you see in there will scar you for life trust me."

"I shared a hooch with Sonny, it can't be worse than that."

As Ray and Clay spoke, Davis heard footsteps getting closer and closer. It was either hide under his bed, the bathroom or the closet and she choose the closet. As extra precaution she locked the door and pressed her ear, hoping to hear as mush as possible. The door opens and then shuts just as fast.

"Told you."

"Shut up Ray. Sonny! Wake up and put some clothes on! Where'd you put my case?" Every so often Clay bangs on the door and when Davis opens her door the tiniest bit, she can Sonny still hasn't moved. He was worn out and she couldn't help the smile on her face.

"You know he's not gonna get up without some help."

"Get in there and wake him up six."

"Me? I already went in!"

"Because as your Master Chief, I'm making you do it. And its your case. Chop, chop."

From the opening, Davis watches as Jason and Ray are outside the door laughing as Clay makes his way into the room, covering his eyes. Eventually making eye contact with the foot of the bed and Sonny's feet. He nudges them until Sonny starts to stir and stretch and that's when she closes the door again.

"What the hell are you doing in here Backstreet?"

"Please, please cover yourself with the sheet."

"What's the matter? Not a fan of the view?"

"Not at all. Please, I need my eyes to operate."

"What's up?"

"I need my case. The one I asked you to hold for me?"

"Oh yeah, it's around here somewhere. Get out so I can get some clothes on and help you find it." As soon as Clay closes the door behind him and she hears it close completely, she sticks her head out and throws clean clothes in Sonny's direction, some of it hitting him in the head. He mouths a thank you and winks in her direction.

"There he is. So what was this one's name and what's she do for a living? Like we don't already know…"

"Morning Jace, nice to see you."

"Have a good night?"

"I did thank you for asking Ray."

"So did she decide to leave all of her clothes behind or…" Sonny gives an extra wide side smile as Jason holds up a flaming red bra, "…was this a parting gift?"

"Was this a make-up/ you're back together session with the secret girlfriend or a drunken encounter you needed to fix your problems?"

"Listen Dr. Clay, I do whatever I want in my house."

"Well whoever she is, I hope she didn't drive. Is that her wallet and ID over there?" Ray was always so perceptive.

"Lisa! Lisa! Did they catch you? Lisa!" Naima's voice whisper screaming through her phone's speakers drowns out the guys. If one of them found her ID, that couldn't be explained. Sure, Sonny could explain the little motorcycle accident, she could explain just wanting to grab coffee with Naima and they could both explain how Sonny called her for help, but how could they explain where she is now, why her car is at Ray and Naima's and why her ID is at Sonny's place? The only saving grace was the guys weren't the most fashion forward so her clothes being strewn about she doubted they'd connect back to her.

"Hey, sorry, I'm good. They didn't see me."

"We are gonna need gallons of coffee to talk this through."

"Let me focus on not getting discovered first."

"I can't believe you and Sonny."

"We have bigger news over here right now."

"And you kept it from us for so long. I see keeping it from the guys, but you should've told me sooner. I can always use another confidant. This'll be so much fun!"

"Are you listening to me? The guys are still here!"

"And now we can really talk! And I mean _really _talk."

"When did you stop listening?"

"Okay, don't give me all the details now, we need to do it in person, but give me something. Were you guys talking and then just jumped on each other? Did it start slow? What rooms did you do it in? I always got this wild and crazy vibe from Sonny, was it? Was there a lot of talking or no time? How many times did you…"

"Naima!"

"Sorry. They still haven't the stupid case yet? No wonder you were so vital to their success before OCS."

Davis open the closet door and sees Sonny closed the bedroom door too. Her shoulders relaxed a little and if she was being honest, she was dying to share.

"I'm only gonna answer once so listen up. If I get caught here, I'm bringing you down with me."

"Deal."

"You're so ridiculous, but I love you."

"I love you too now share! Were you talking?"

"Kinda fighting."

"Even hotter."

"Shut up."

"So you didn't start slow?"

"No we did."

"What rooms?"

"Everywhere."

"Dirty. Was it really wild and crazy after starting slow?"

"Sonny never says no to anything."

"Hey now. So no talking?"

"A lot of noise, but no words."

"How many…"

"I lost count."

"Whew, no wonder you never answered my messages."

"Thanks for the advice and I'll promise, I'll tell you everything, but let me get outta this mess first."

"No problem, glad I could help and you better. We love our Seals, but its not always easy, we need our girlfriends just as much."

"I see what you mean now."

"Call or text me when the coast is clear so I know you're alright."

"I will."

"And hey, glad you saved a horse and rode a cowboy." Davis doesn't have a chance to respond as Naima laughs out loud and then hangs up the phone. If this is what having girlfriends is like, she liked it and she loved Naima. This was gonna be fun being able to confide and vent to each other about their love lives and unique position they were in that not every woman, no matter how empathetic, would understand.

On her way to the door to spy and see how far along the guys are in looking for Clay's case, she trips over Sonny's backpack and everything that was already everywhere is thrown about in an even bigger mess. As if it were a game of Simon Says, she freezes, staying absolutely still hoping the guys didn't hear the crash that to her sounded like a volcanic eruption. In a haste to put things back the way they were, she can't help glancing at the paperwork Sonny almost completed changing his beneficiary over from his mom to her and specifying Davis is to be notified first if anything were to happen to him. There was prescription cream that judging by the date was given to him in Afghanistan and another draft of what looks to be his Letter. The Letter was what you wrote your Team Leader in the event you didn't come home. Sonny had only scribbled a few sentences here and there, like he was just getting his thoughts down when he was interrupted by something or someone, but what he had written down was telling.

_'__Hey Jace, all the rules say you can't have it all, but hell I tried. I wanted the team, Lisa, our family, operating and staying alive. Four outta five ain't bad…'_

The closet door swings open before she can even react and attempt to hide.

"Jesus you don't make a lot of noise for a big guy."

"You weren't complaining earlier."

"Very cute."

"Couldn't get enough of me huh? Had to literally bury yourself in my clothes and gear I see."

"Maybe if it wasn't so messy, I wouldn't have tripped. The guys gone?"

"Coast is clear." Sonny helps her up and as promised, she sends Naima a quick text letting her know she's okay. "I gotta head onto base in a little bit though. Big stuff on the horizon Blackburn wants us briefed."

"You getting spun up?"

"Not yet. Just some potential threats, uprisings Blackburn wants us to be aware of. It'll be like history class."

"Sounds fun. When?"

"A little over an hour."

"An hour huh?" She stands on her toes and runs her hands through this hair generating a groan from Sonny.

"Yes an hour and I cannot be late. You know lateness is Blackburn's pet peeve."

"And here I was telling Naima you never say no to anything."

"You told Naima about us?!" Sonny follows her out of the closet and towards the living room and kitchen.

"I never said anything, but she's smart. I think she had her suspicions, but after your little motorcycle incident, I think she figured it out."

"Yeah about that…"

"Before you tell me about that, this fell outta your backpack when I tripped. Where'd you hurt yourself?"

"Oh, I was wondering where I left that."

"This is some pretty heavy duty cream. I wanna know about the bike, but what's this for?"

"Actually both stories are kinda connected." They get comfortable on the couch as Sonny begins. "Remember the little girl I told you about earlier?"

"Yeah of course. I can't forget."

"After we discovered her, I couldn't just leave her. She was still well within my grasp and that gunshot wound looked bad, but I learned a lot of from Trent and something told me if I could get her out and some medical attention, she would survive. So I grabbed her hand and I had her, you know? I had her in my grasp. She was holding onto my arm and I had her by the shoulder. I was getting her out, we were getting her out. Mike radioed for help, told Command we needed assistance, but it was too late. Hostiles were surrounding our location and we had to go, but I wasn't gonna leave without that little girl. Told her my name was Sonny. She asked if it was because I liked the sunshine. She was a really sweet little girl. Mike told me to pull her out now or leave her. Whatever limbs were stuck, pieces of clothes snagged, whatever it was didn't matter, just get her out or we'd have to leave her so I pulled as hard as I could. She was screaming bloody murder, but I feel like I had her. I feel like I had her. If…" she listens as his breath hitches and his voice lowers, "…if the RPG didn't hit the building next door and make me loose my grip and make those rocks topple on me…and her, I would've got her out. I had her. She was in my grasp, I had her. All I did was add agony to her last moments, stretching her body to inhumane lengths, telling myself I was doing it to get her free and I didn't. I put her through all that pain for nothing. Her face was right in front of me and then it was gone. I couldn't even stop the rocks from rolling down. I don't even remember Mike and Brian pulling my arm free and shooting our way out of the compound. I had her. I almost had her free. I had her. I wasn't strong enough. Kill Joy said it was mission accomplished, but he has no idea. Last time I was on base, he was thanking me for my efforts, said a distant relative claimed the little girl and that military investigators on the scene said by the size of the entry wound, it couldn't have been any of our guns that shot her. Not that the news makes me feel better, then or now. When I was on my bike I saw a girl that looked just her, exactly like her. I slowed down to get a better look, but it wasn't enough and I missed a wide turn."

While the tears don't fall, Davis listens as he breathes shaky inhales and exhales and rubs his palms against his thighs. She uses her hands to run down the right side of Sonny's back and torso, starting up high at his shoulder blade. The skin did feel rough and at some points, completely exposed. This whole time, she thought it was from the motorcycle crash. She pulls him closer and let's him rest on her. There's nothing she can say that'll make him feel better or remotely come close to being comforting. That's why he lied to the guys. And took forever in telling her what really happened. Navy Seals can do almost anything, but at the end of the day, they do their duty and try their best to help other people in need. Sonny tried his best to help this little girl in need and unfortunately he couldn't. That kind of failure and that kind of guilt doesn't disappear no matter how many beers you drink or how many lies you tell yourself or your loved ones.

"You could always grieve for her."

"Yeah right."

"I'm serious. Tell me about her."

"What do you mean?"

"What was her name?"

"Zara."

"That's beautiful."

"Yeah I thought so too." Davis breaks out into a smile that she doesn't even try to hide. She loved that Sonny thought Zara was a beautiful name. In ten years of knowing each other, he could still surprise her and she could still surprise herself.

"Did you tell her you liked the sunshine?"

"Yeah I did." The sad smile on his face tells her all she needs to know. No matter how much time passes and however many more missions and deployments, Sonny would never forget the little girl and how close he came to saving her.

"Hey, I gotta tell you something." She sits up ever so slightly, using the armrest at a neck brace and Sonny's head resting on her stomach, just above her hips. "It was an accident, but I found the paperwork you filled out and your letter to Jason."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Were you gonna tell me?"

"Eventually."

"And the part about a family?"

"You and I can make a family, just the two of us."

"But that's not what you meant. Is it?"

"Don't freak out."

"I'm not freaking out." Sonny Quinn thinking about a family of his own? She wasn't freaking out, she was pleasantly shocked.

"It was right after I lost Zara and I was all in touch with my emotions. It just got me thinking about you and me and us. What? What's with the smile on your face?"

"Nothing, I like seeing this side of you."

"Yeah why?"

"You're really growing up. It's sweet." They both laugh as she pinches his cheeks and combs his hair with her hands. "And I think you can have it all. You and I have always been rule breakers."

"Yeah we have."

"After everything, I really believe we can go the distance. Look at these past three months I was gone and six months you were deployed. Longest nine months of our lives and I don't wanna use the word power couple, but…"

"Go ahead and use it. I like the way it sounds."

"I love you. Always."

"I love you too. Forever."

With their lips too far from each other and their positions too comfortable to move, Davis kisses her index and middle finger, stamping them on Sonny's forehead. This time he's the one who lets out a giggle and returns the gesture by leaning down and kissing the spot on her stomach where his head is resting. It could be moment of sheer lightheartedness in a Navy life that was more often than not very heavy and serious or because of his beard made her giggle extra hard, but it was a kiss in that spot that had Davis feeling more than good. After so much time apart and so much distance geographically and emotionally, she had never felt closer to Sonny than that moment right there.

FIN

A/N: Happy Seal Team is back day :) I'm at a loss for words trying to think of a way to say: thank you and I appreciate you. As much as I love writing, sometimes its hellish (LOL) but your reviews, PM's, follows and favorites kept me going. I can't wait to read what you all think of this story in its entirety and the ending. Enjoy season three of Seal Team and the awesomeness that is the power couple #Savis :)


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